China View: The Role of Aboriginals in Taiwan's Society
AFP PHOTO/Sam YEH
Officially self-proclaimed as the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan is a country whose political status remains uncertain. Few countries formally recognize Taiwan as a state; most have adopted the “One China” policy that declares the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate Chinese government. The ROC is not a member of the UN but experts often analyze Taiwanese politics, economy, and society just like those of any individual state. Taiwan is a huge island between the East China Sea and the South China Sea which holds a very particular history.
The Austronesian People and their migrations. (CREDIT: TaiChung.Guide)
For thousands of years, Taiwan was isolated and therefore was the home of indigenous cultures and tribes of Filipino and Polynesian descent. According to sources, Taiwanese Aborigines are part of the Austronesian people and today only make up 2% of the total population of Taiwan. Multiple indigenous groups present in Taiwan offer a diversity of indigenous roots with different physical features, cultural peculiarities, and languages. As shown from the map below, Taiwan’s territory is divided according to the many Formosa languages spoken on the island. These are called “Formosa” because Taiwan was originally named the Ilha Formosa (“beautiful island”) by Portuguese sailors noting the island on their geographical maps in the 1500s.
Originally, therefore, the demographics of Taiwan presented the following 16 main ethnic groups (also recognized by the local government today):
Formosan Languages of Taiwan. (CREDIT: vidiani.com)
Amis
Atayal
Bunun
Hla’alua
Kanakanavu
Kavalan
Paiwan
Puyuma
Rukai
Saisiat
Sakizaya
Seediq
Thao
Truku
Tsou
Yami
These now only make a few hundreds of thousands of the total population and are being replaced by the Chinese Han community and their language – Mandarin.
The reasons behind these social changes are tied to the complex history of Taiwan, which is made of multiple settlers constantly subjugating indigenous groups. Especially from the 1600s onwards, the people of Taiwan were repeatedly invaded by the Dutch, the Chinese Mainlanders, and the Japanese. A simplified timeline below will show the focal events affecting the local society from that Period of time. During the colonial era, The Dutch East India company was settled in the South Western part of Taiwan and monitored a triangular trade between Taiwan China in Japan. Similarly to how Western colonialism has impacted territories in other parts of Asia, aboriginal groups very soon felt like their grip on their own native state was extremely loose due to the presence of European supremacists. However, it must be noticed that the history of Taiwan continued on a similar route. This means that the mistreatment of natives did not often depend on the origin of the occupier but on its self-appointed position of superiority in regard to any community those in power felt like they could use at their own personal interest. In fact, both under the Chinese Qing Dynasty, the Japanese Empire, and Chiang Kai-Shek’s Kuomintang Nationalist Party (fleeing to Taiwan after losing to Mao Zedong in the Chinese Civil War), Taiwanese indigenous never had a fair share of power in their own homeland.
Author’s Simplified Timeline of Taiwanese History.
It is difficult, in fact, to determine whether they will ever have the chance. Experts believe that these indigenous tribes have been homogenized and mixed with the Chinese Han immigrants to the point that now 85% of the Chinese population may have aboriginal roots. That of the Taiwanese tribes is a longlasting struggle that emerges in society as much as it does in politics. Since the Taiwanese transition to democracy, representing these groups has been among the priorities of the political agenda. But, it is true that the larger voice of Chinese descent often make up the majority of votes when it comes to decision-making. Tribal cultures have become an important side of tourism and therefore these ethnic groups may be considered a product of the local market rather than an integral part of society.
Neglected and assimilated for centuries, the tribal cultures today remain largely underdeveloped. Their unemployment rate tends to be higher than that of the majority of their Han counterparts and they have been listed by UNESCO as “critically endangered” because the indigenous youth is no longer thaught about their origin, but rather grows in an imported culture. According to the BBC, there's been an attempt by the Taiwanese government to enhance the human development of these groups by funding children’s indigenous and Taiwanese education, and consuming local natural products like bamboo, wood, and bird’s feathers. However, some aboriginal customs concerning hunting remain criticized and do not align with the government’s ideal and how Taiwanese society should be or become.
About the PRC-led “One Country, Two System” vision, indigenous people claim Taiwan was never a part of China and therefore should be considered an independent state. In 2019, following PRC’s President Xi Jinping’s speech on Taiwan's unification with the Mainland being “inevitable”, general dissent spread in Taiwan. A letter to Xi Jinping by the indigenous people of Taiwan explains that before the KMT nationalist fled to the island, Taiwan was never Chinese. The indigenous tribes have indeed lived there for over 5,500 years and believe this is a sacred space open to those who love nature and respect the customs long oppressed by foreign settlers, including multiculturalism and multilingualism.
Attached is the letter sent to the Chinese President, condemning the management of issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang alike. According to the aboriginals:
The future of Taiwan will be decided by self-determination of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples and all the people who live on our motherland.
No government, political party, or organization has the right to negotiate with any foreign power in an attempt to surrender the control of the traditional territory of ours, the indigenous peoples of Taiwan.
We are the determined guardians of our motherland, as we have been for thousands of years, and will continue to be.
If one day China abandons its distorted understanding of history, nationality, and statehood;
If one day China becomes our friendly neighbor and stops claiming its forceful “parenthood” upon us;
Only then will we propose a toast to China, our neighbor, with a cup of millet wine in all our sincerity.
These claims could only be appreciated by the ROC’s central government, which added the indigenous cause to the multiple valid reasons countering China’s claim of supremacy over Taiwan. Recently, in fact, the domestic political scenario has seen a gradual implementation of education, healthcare, and living standards for underrepresented groups. Shelley Rigger, an expert in East Asian politics, argues that “The promotion of aboriginal culture is very much a part of the de-sinification effort,” because “Aboriginal peoples are the foundation for the argument that Taiwan is a ‘creole’ nation, not a predominantly Chinese society.” A documentary below explains some of the challenges faced by the indigenous youth today.
