The Aboriginal Language Development Act (原住民族語言發展法) yesterday passed its third reading at the Legislative Yuan, granting official status to Aboriginal languages.
Local governments, Aboriginal regions and non-Aboriginal areas with more than 1,500 Aborigines should establish an office tasked with the promotion of local languages, the regulations say.
The act stipulates that the central government should help establish organizations to promote Aboriginal languages, as well as chair meetings with each of the recognized communities to ascertain what new words should be incorporated, assist in compiling Aboriginal dictionaries and establish online linguistic archives.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The primary goal of the policy is to encourage the learning of languages that are nearly extinct, regularly hold polls to gauge language learning, hold free exams and award Aboriginal language certificates, lawmakers said.
Within three years of the act’s promulgation, Aborigines taking civil servants’ special exams and those studying abroad on public funds would be expected to have an Aboriginal language certificate, the act says.
When hiring staff in accordance with the Indigenous Peoples Employment Rights Protection Act (原住民族工作權保障法), the government and public schools should prioritize people who speak Aboriginal languages, it says.
Government institutions, public schools and corporate entities in Aboriginal areas would be required to prepare official documents in commonly used languages of the area, while all public transportation in Aboriginal areas would be required to use the languages in announcements, the act says.
When conducting official business, standing trial in court or during any other judicial procedure, Aborigines would be allowed to use their own language to express themselves, and in such cases the government would have to hire an interpreter, it says.
All schools should follow the curriculum as set out according to the 12-year national basic education and provide Aboriginal language courses, it says, adding that such courses should be taught in Aboriginal languages.
Local education bureaus and departments should launch programs to train full-time Aboriginal-language teachers.
The government should set aside funds to promote Aboriginal-language publications, while state-run media should produce programs and language courses, the proposed rules say.
Air time for Aboriginal-language content in government-owned or government-invested media should not be less than 50 percent, it says.
The government officially recognizes 16 Aboriginal groups: Amis, Tao, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Thao, Atayal, Saisiyat, Tsou, Rukai, Kavalan, Sakizaya, Sediq, Hla’alua, Kanakanavu and Truku.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
RSS