President Tsai celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day

2021/08/04

President Tsai Ing-wen said Aug. 1 that the government is committed to raising public awareness regarding the culture and history of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples while recognizing the innumerable ways in which they contribute to society.
 
Indigenous communities have made great achievements in areas spanning government, industry, sports and national defense, as well as the country’s transition to democracy and management of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. The success of indigenous athletes at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics is just one example among many, she added.
 
Tsai made the remarks via a prerecorded video during a forum staged by the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Taipei City.
 
According to Tsai, following a constitutional amendment in 1994 recognizing the status of indigenous peoples as Taiwan’s original inhabitants, the government has continuously promoted historical and transitional justice for aboriginal groups. Such initiatives include the CIP publishing relevant books, the Ministry of Education adding more indigenous perspectives to the school curriculum and the Ministry of Culture encouraging museums to curate related exhibitions, she said.
 
The government is committed to providing the support Taiwan’s indigenous communities need, Tsai said, adding great progress has been made toward realizing the policy of ethnic mainstreaming.

The ethnic mainstreaming policy is designed to ensure equitable official resource allocation, as well as equality in government planning and national law formulation, for the country’s various ethnicities.
 
Latest statistics from the Ministry of the Interior reveal that the country’s aboriginal population stands at 578,847, or 2.46 percent of the total 23.49 million.


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)