Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Pingpu activist calls for new, separate ministry

Taipei Times

Impatient with the Council of Indigenous Peoples’ (CIP) response to Pingpu Aborigines’ demand for recognition, activist Lin Sheng-yi (林勝義), a Pingpu from the Ketagalan tribe, yesterday urged the government to create a separate ministry to handle Pingpu affairs.

“I don’t know why is it so hard for the CIP to officially recognize the Pingpu as Aborigines,” Lin told a news conference in Taipei. “The Pingpu have been considered indigenous peoples by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 1994 and we’ve always been active in Aboriginal movements — why is it so hard to recognize us as Aborigines?”

Ma plays the same old tune again

Taipei Times Editorial

With great fanfare, the Presidential Office trumpeted the news on Thursday that Taiwan and Singapore would explore the possibility of signing a trade pact before the end of the year. Such a deal could pave the way for closer economic ties with ASEAN, India and Japan, the Presidential Office said, while the government was also looking at Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand as potential targets for trade pact negotiations.

Haven’t we heard this all before?

Morakot victims stage overnight rally

Taipei Times

Hundreds of victims of Typhoon Morakot from Aboriginal regions in the south yesterday began an overnight sit-in rally in front of the Presidential Office to protest the government’s post-disaster reconstruction policies a year after the storm devastated their homes.

“We want to have a say in the reconstruction!” and “No to disunion,” the demonstrators shouted as they marched from Liberty Square to Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.

The Film "Formosa Betrayed" Though Different from "Cape No. 7" is Important for Taiwan Youth

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

There was a time, not long ago, when Taiwanese were not allowed to speak Taiwanese. There was a time, not long ago, when Taiwanese could not say they were Taiwanese without being ridiculed. There was a worse time, also not that long ago, when Taiwanese were tortured and imprisoned if they wanted democracy. That time is what the movie, "Formosa Betrayed," opening in Taiwan theatres island-wide on August 6th is about.

Can one imagine deprivation if one has only known plenty? Can one imagine oppression if one has only known democracy? Can one imagine a one-party state violating people's rights unless one has experienced it? This is what Formosa Betrayed is about and these are some of the questions it raises for Taiwan's youth. It is a film that reveals a harsh reality of Taiwan's not too distant past, a harsh, often unspoken, reality endured by the youth's parents and grandparents, a harsh reality that is hard to imagine. It is easier to say that it did not exist.

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