Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

When presidential adviser Lin Hsin-i (林信義), Taiwan’s envoy to this year’s APEC summit in South Korea, arrived at the opening session on Friday last week, the official broadcast screen bore the name “Taiwan.” Also featured were the national flag, the labels “major economic partner” and “chips sector competitor,” as well as population and GDP statistics of 23.3 million and US$805 billion.

It is more than just a new look — it is an open acknowledgement of Taiwan’s economic strength and technological standing. As host, South Korea has delivered a tactful and economically minded framing, reflecting the pragmatic recognition of Taiwan’s role amid a global supply chain restructuring and growing geopolitical risks.

In 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled that the exclusion of Pingpu from the Indigenous Peoples Status Act (原住民身分法) was unconstitutional — a delayed reckoning with a forgotten history. On Oct. 17, the Legislative Yuan passed its third reading of the Pingpu Indigenous People’s Identity Act (平鋪原住民族群身分法). It was a long-awaited response to a 20-year struggle for recognition from Pingpu groups and a milestone in Taiwan’s transitional justice process.

The question is whether legal recognition could truly provide genuine protection of rights. There is discussion on the likelihood of this separate legal framework — which acknowledges identity first and leaves rights to be debated later — creating a second-tier indigenous class. The decoupling of identity and rights would be a low-budget form of recognition at best. The acid test for the credibility of the legal changes would be what happens in the education system. The recognition of Pingpu groups brings three major challenges — and opportunities for reform — for education in Taiwan: