Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Indigenous Peoples’ Day yesterday lauded Taiwan’s indigenous communities for preserving their diverse cultures, saying they should be recognized as precious treasures of the world.
“In ancient times, indigenous peoples were masters of this land, which citizens and groups now call ‘ROC, Taiwan.’ Indigenous peoples have helped safeguard Taiwan’s mountains and forests, and all the land domains, living in harmony with ethnic groups, enabling the nation’s multicultural society to embrace the ocean and link up with the outside world,” he said.
The Presidential Office yesterday said that an ad hoc committee tasked with promoting transitional justice for indigenous peoples in Taiwan has ceased operations, adding that its responsibilities have been reassigned to the Executive Yuan.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The Indigenous Transitional Justice Committee has made vital contributions to transitional justice, and the Executive Yuan would carry on the committee’s tasks under the Committee for Promoting Indigenous Peoples’ Basic Act, Cho said.
“Efforts for indigenous peoples’ transitional justice are based on historic events. With the Indigenous Peoples’ Basic Act (原住民族基本法), Taiwanese society now has a comprehensive system that would protect and enhance indigenous peoples’ rights,” the Council of Indigenous Peoples said yesterday.
The council said the ad hoc committee started in 2016, with the then-government issuing an official apology for past injustices and then-committee members investigating past violations against indigenous communities.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
“Follow-up efforts are to realize the investigation’s outcomes and implement policies for local governments in accordance to the Indigenous Peoples’ Basic Act,” it said.
The Committee for Promoting Indigenous Peoples’ Basic Act would include representatives from “Plans Indigenous People” groups (平埔族群), who would be working with the council and government agencies for policy implementation, which makes it different from the former committee under the Presidential Office, the council said.
Separately, President William Lai (賴清德) in his opening address at the National Summit Meeting on Indigenous Policies in Taipei yesterday thanked “members of indigenous communities who have helped put the spotlight on Taiwan on the world stage, including indigenous athletes on Taiwan’s Olympic team, and the contributions of indigenous peoples in the military, fire departments, police forces, medical and healthcare sectors, education and other occupations in the society.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education yesterday said it would provide higher subsidies of up to NT$700,000 per year, for 278 full-time teachers of indigenous languages at schools.
Taiwan has 16 officially recognized indigenous groups, with the groups having a combined 42 different languages and regional varieties under the Austronesian linguistic family, K-12 Education Administration section chief Sun Min-yi (孫旻儀) said.
There are 278 teachers helping students learn their mother tongues at the high-school level and below, Sun said.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
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