Taiwan sets up commission for tribal rights

President Tsai Ing-wen issued an apology Monday to the country's indigenous peoples as a part of her efforts to launch reconciliation policies.

Her words come after hundreds of aboriginals staged protests outside the presidential office in Taipei over the weekend, calling for protection of their hunting rights and demanding concrete reforms from the government in Taipei.

As the island's only leader with aboriginal blood, the president said she would personally head a committee to investigate past injustices as part of government efforts to ease tensions with the native community.

"I apologize to the indigenous people on behalf of the government, to give our deepest apology over the suffering and injustice you endured over the past 400 years," Tsai said in her speech.

Marginalized for centuries

Tribal members invited to witness Tsai's speech burned millet stalks in front of the residential office as part of a ceremony calling out to ancestral spirits to join them.

"I hope the belated apology, for all people in the country, is the first step on the road to reconciliation," she added.

The island's indigenous community - which makes up about 2 percent of the country's 23.5 million people - has seen its traditional culture eroded since Han Chinese immigrants started arriving from China in the 17th century.

Today, Taiwan's 16 recognized aboriginal tribes are still a marginalized group, with wages about 40 percent less than the national average, as well as a higher rate of unemployment. Much of their historic land is now designated as a national park, leading to clashes over subsistence hunting, fishing and foraging in areas where permits are needed.

Capen Nganaen, an 80-year-old elder from the Yami tribe on Orchid Island, welcomed the president's words but cautioned that there are urgent issues needed to be resolved soon.

"We've protested against a radioactive waste repository on the island for more than three decades. The government should sincerely address the removal issue," Nganaen said.

Tsai had pledged to increase autonomy and rights for indigenous people during her election campaign, which saw her Democratic Progressive Party win a landslide victory in January.

jar/kl (AFP, dpa)