The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday announced that Taiwan had become a founding member of the New Zealand-initiated Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA).
The non-binding agreement — of which Canada and Australia are also members — aims to promote the economic empowerment of indigenous peoples in the Asia-Pacific region. Such initiatives not only recognize the interests of Taiwan’s original inhabitants, but also help differentiate Taiwan from China.
Little is heard outside of China about the majority of its 56 recognized minorities, while the Uighur and Tibetan peoples are recognized globally as victims of human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party.
Perhaps Taiwan’s indigenous communities face a less daunting situation than that faced by China’s minorities, but they nonetheless have various issues that need to be addressed.
Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod on Monday said that a lack of Internet access in many rural indigenous communities is a “real problem.” Only 51.6 percent of indigenous villages in mountainous areas have Internet access, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said.
Council official Du Jhang Mei-jhuang (杜張梅莊) last month said that 10,000 of the 260,000 hectares of land designated as Indigenous Reserved Land have been “lost” through fraudulent sales and deed transfers.
There have also been disagreements over commercial activity on indigenous land, and arrests in national parks of Truku and Bunun men for hunting, which is a traditional activity in their communities.
A feature article in the Taipei Times on March 10 highlighted the plight of migrant indigenous communities in New Taipei City’s Yingge (鶯歌) and Sansia (三峽) districts who are struggling for autonomy and fighting assimilation.
Giving indigenous people greater visibility and a bigger voice in society would allow issues to be resolved sooner and more favorably for indigenous communities.
For example, participation in national park offices by Truku, Bunun and other communities with hunting traditions could prevent unnecessary arrests. Greater participation in the education and economics ministries could help ensure that rural indigenous communities have their school funding and digital-infrastructure concerns addressed, and ensure that decisions on mining and other economic activities take the concerns of indigenous people into consideration.
One of the benefits of native populations being well integrated in places like New Zealand and Hawaii is that those places are very much in tune with the need for environmental sustainability, and both are places that emphasize social inclusion. Taiwan’s original inhabitants should also be more visible in the nation’s foreign affairs. In New Zealand, Maori culture features prominently in New Zealanders’ cuisine, curricula and politics. In Hawaii, the native language is often mixed with English in everyday speech, and its original culture is visible across its islands. Both places are well known internationally for their indigenous people and traditions.
Taiwan should take a cue from New Zealand and Hawaii and strongly embrace the languages, cultures and traditions of its indigenous communities. Doing so would benefit national consciousness and sustainability efforts, and would ensure that indigenous peoples’ interests are protected. More than that, it would clearly differentiate Taiwan from China.
IPETCA should be backed up by greater opportunities for indigenous peoples’ economic participation at home, and should be followed up by adding more indigenous voices to Taiwanese delegations at international events and organizations.
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