Aboriginal groups yesterday voiced support for the people of Inner Mongolia, saying that China is to blame for protests because it is suppressing Mongolian language and culture in the region.
Chinese education officials in the region have barred classes in subjects other than the Mongolian language from being taught in anything but Chinese.
Students and teachers have decried the policy, with many not attending class in protest.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
At a rally outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, the Tayal National Assembly, the Indigenous Peoples’ Action Coalition of Taiwan, the Association for Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Policy and other organizations denounced what they called China’s policy of “cultural genocide.”
Rukai Legislator Saidai Tarovecahe of the Democratic Progressive Party told a news conference at the rally that mother tongues are the essence of knowledge of the natural environment, and for understanding life and the world.
“The fastest way to wipe out an ethnic group is to cut them off from their mother tongue,” she said.
“It is regretful that China’s authoritarian regime is adopting an assimilation policy against its ethnic minorities,” she said.
“A living Aboriginal language is like an identity card for us. If the language dies, then Aborigines would also die,” said former Council of Indigenous Peoples minister Yohani Isqaqavut, a Bunun, who is now a Presbyterian pastor and part of the church’s Taiwan Indigenous Ministry Committee.
“Aboriginal cultures, languages and traditions were suppressed” under the assimilation policies of the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, he said.
“It forced them to identify as Han Chinese ... so I can understand what the people of Inner Mongolia are going through right now,” he said.
“China has been promoting the use of Chinese while it is eradicating the mother tongue of ethnic minorities — which denies the basic rights of these people,” he said.
“We want to raise awareness of this issue and to protest against this shameful policy of the Chinese regime,” he said.
Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said that people in China should have the same freedoms as Taiwanese.
“As a proud father of a three-year-old daughter, I want her to speak our mother tongue freely at kindergarten,” Lim said. “The actions of the Chinese government is to totally suppress the learning environment for Mongolian children, which will lead to the extermination of ethnic Mongolians in the region.”
“I urge countries around the world to support Inner Mongolia, and defend Mongolians’ right to their mother tongue,” he said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS