A member of the Control Yuan yesterday launched an investigation into road names that might contain discriminatory language.
In a statement published on the Control Yuan’s Web site, Upay Radiw Kanasaw said that Fanjin Road, Fanzi Road and Fanshe Street in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽) were examples of potentially problematic road names.
Kanasaw said that characters such as “fan” (番) and “man” (蠻) —terms which historically carry connotations of “barbarian” or “primitive” in reference to non-Chinese — could imply discrimination or stereotypes of indigenous people.
Photo: Fang Wei-li, Taipei Times
Road names should “respect ethnic identity and cultural dignity,” while local governments should establish mechanisms for cultural assessments and ethnic participation when naming or renaming roads, he said.
Some place names reflect indigenous historical context and record interethnic interactions, he said, pointing to Fanlu Township (番路) in Chiayi County as a key route of the Tsou people of Alishan.
However, “a lack of cultural sensitivity in certain names continues to foster discrimination and affects indigenous identity and cultural dignity,” he added.
The investigation would also examine whether the current rules for road naming and renaming are adequate to ensure that the naming of public spaces “reflects the values of respecting diversity and promoting social harmony,” Kanasaw said.
Taiwan has 16 officially recognized Austronesian-speaking peoples, which make up a little more than 2.5 percent of the population, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site says.
Taiwan’s “predominantly Han Chinese society” is the result of “successive waves of Chinese immigrants that began arriving in the 17th century,” the site says.
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