President Tsai Ing-wen has announced that she will create and head a committee dedicated to securing transitional justice for Taiwan’s indigenous peoples.
The announcement came Monday as part of an apology to Taiwan’s aborigines for past wrongs and for injustices they face in society today.
Tsai said that as committee head, she will meet with representatives of different aboriginal peoples and work with them to secure historical justice. At the same time, Tsai said she will confer with aboriginal representatives about the direction of future policy.
Tsai said that the committee’s chief concern will be establishing a relationship of equality between the government and indigenous people. She said that the committee will provide Taiwan’s aborigines with a mechanism for making collective decisions and voicing their wishes.
On Monday, Tsai also unveiled other steps in the government’s program of transitional justice for indigenous people. Tsai ordered government agencies to draw up a report on the nuclear waste storage program begun in 1982 on Orchid Island, home to the Tao People. Tsai also called for the government to give reasonable compensation to the Tao People before the final disposal of the waste.
Tsai also called for an investigation into ways of securing aboriginal hunting rights and stopping the arrest of indigenous people following traditional hunting customs on aboriginal lands.
The government has also scheduled other steps towards transitional justice and indigenous autonomy. These include discussions on the status of plains aboriginal groups unrecognized by the government, and plans to delineate traditional aboriginal lands.