Indigenous Rights in Taiwan

Ku’s article discusses minority and indigenous rights within Taiwan. The difference between these two groups of people is important. The minority groups include Mongolian and Tibetan immigrants. The indigenous peoples are those who were living on the island before the Chinese arrived. They receive different rights because of this difference.

One thing I found very interesting, as well as very important, is that the Alliance of Taiwan Aborigines (ATA) decided to use the term ‘aborigine’ to describe themselves. They chose this term because of its implication of being the first inhabitants of the island. This gave the movement for indigenous rights a much stronger voice because it holds these peoples as being the original masters of Taiwan (2005, p. 103). The fact that they chose their own term to describe themselves is very important. It means that these peoples care about how they are being treated and demand respect from others. Choosing how they identify is a sign of assertiveness on the part of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. It is also extremely important that the ATA created a Manifesto of Taiwanese Aboriginal Rights in 1988 to form a common destiny among the aborigines (p. 104). They knew how they were being discriminated against and wanted to change that. They knew some of their human rights were being violated and wanted to gain rights and respect from the Han people. However this statement received little public attention, which is a shame since I am sure that it was a well thought out manifesto that should have been respected. These people deserve to have the same human rights as everyone else.

I also found it interesting that within the DPP, pro-independence advocates believe that the indigenous peoples who are most qualified to declare independence since they have always been on the island and therefore there is no problem of unification for them. However, most aborigines are against independence (p. 106). I find it interesting that the pro-independence advocates believe there would not be a problem of unification amongst the indigenous peoples. Historically speaking, these different groups of people have fought against each other and have practiced head hunting expeditions against each other. Surely things are different now, but there could possibly still be some tension amongst the different aborigines groups. They may not want to unite with other groups to try and fight for independence because of their history with one another.

I feel like it is also relevant to mention that aboriginal politicians spoke up about the manifesto created by the ATA, demanding the right to practice regional autonomy in the areas where aboriginal peoples have traditionally lived. They also demanded an upgrade in the level of administrative authority aboriginal politicians have in the central government (p. 111). These demands are extremely crucial in the movement for indigenous rights. If Taiwan’s aborigines want more rights, they have to fight hard to get them. Which is, I will admit, completely unfair to them since they should already have these rights.

Reference:
Ku, Kun-hui. 2005. “Rights to Recognition: Minority/Indigenous Politics in the Emerging Taiwanese Nationalism.” Social Analysis 49 (2): 99-121.