Taiwan's indigenous people remind Xi Jinping it has "never ...

With much of the world's attention on Taiwan colored by its decades-long enmity with China, it can be easy to forget that centuries of ... SkiptonavigationSkiptocontentDiscoverMembershipEmailsPodcastFieldGuidesPresentationsLatestTrendingObsessionsFeaturedSearchEditionsQuartzQuartzatWorkQuartzAfricaQuartzIndiaQuartzJapanMorefromQuartzAboutQuartzCareersDiversityandinclusionHelpcenterDownloadourappQuartzCreativeFollowQuartzFacebookTwitterInstagramYouTubeLinkedInDiscoverLatestObsessionsThesearethecoreobsessionsthatdriveournewsroom—definingtopicsofseismicimportancetotheglobaleconomy.FeaturedThesearesomeofourmostambitiouseditorialprojects.Enjoy!EmailsOuremailsaremadetoshineinyourinbox,withsomethingfresheverymorning,afternoon,andweekend.BecomeamemberByIsabellaStegerAsiadeputyeditorPublishedJanuary9,2019LastupdatedonJanuary13,2019Thisarticleismorethan2yearsold.Withmuchoftheworld’sattentiononTaiwancoloredbyitsdecades-longenmitywithChina,itcanbeeasytoforgetthatcenturiesofhistoryprecededthearrivalofethnicChineseontheisland.InresponsetoarecentspeechbyXiJinpinginwhichhewarnedhewouldnotruleoutmilitarymeanstoforcetheunificationofTaiwanwithChina,theisland’sindigenouspeopleissuedanopenletteraddressedtotheChinesepresidenttochallengeBeijing’sclaims.Publishedyesterday(Jan.8)inChinese (linkinChinese)andtranslatedhere intoEnglish,theletterassertsthatthevariousindigenoustribesofTaiwan,whichhaveinhabitedthelandfor6,000years,donotbelongtothe“so-called‘Chinesenation,'”areferencetotheoft-usedrhetoricbyBeijingthatTaiwanisaninalienablepartofChina,andthatitisa“historicalconclusion”thatTaiwanandChinashouldbeonecountry.AftertheendoftheChineseCivilWarin1949,thedefeatedNationalistforcesfledtoTaiwanandestablishedacompetingChinesegovernmentthere,whiletheCommunistPartyruledfromBeijing.Sincethen,Taiwanhasgoverneditselfandholdsdemocraticelections,whileBeijinghasneverrelinquisheditsclaimsovertheisland.ForcedtochoosebetweenthegovernmentsinBeijingandTaipei,almostallcountriesintheworldhavediplomaticrelationswithChina,andonlymaintainquasi-diplomatictieswithTaiwan.Lostamidallthemilitaryconflictsandgreat-powertusslesofthe20thcentury,however,isthevoiceandhistoryofTaiwan’sindigenouspeople,whotodaynumberover500,000,or2%ofthecountry’spopulation.Likeindigenouspeoplesinothercountriesintheworld,they’veexperiencedhundredsofyearsofexploitationandcolonizationfromaseriesofconquerors.“We…havewitnessedthedeedsandwordsofthosewhocametothisisland,includingtheSpanish,theDutch,theKoxingaKingdom,theQingKingdom,theJapanese,andtheRepublicofChina,”thelettersays.KoxingareferstotheJapanese-bornChineseconquerorwhofledMingdynastyChinatoestablishagovernmentinTaiwanin1661,thenunderDutchcontrol.Koxingahimselfisclaimedasanationalhero (paywall)byJapan,Taiwan,andChina,underscoringthecomplexhistoryandnotionsofidentityinthatpartoftheworld.“Wedonotsharethemonoculturalism,unification,andhegemonypromotedbyyou,Mr.Xi,”theletterasserts.“Itisbyfarnotapathtogreatness.”ItalsonotedtheviolationsofhumanrightsgoingoninpartsofChinasuchasXinjiang,Tibet,andHongKong,andderidedXi’sofferofa“OneCountry,TwoSystems”modelforunificationonthosegrounds.Theauthorsoftheletter,representativesoftwodozenofTaiwan’sindigenoustribes,alsocriticizedthemodernstateofTaiwanasonethatwasbuiltupontheir“motherland”andsaidtheyhave“havenevergivenup[their]rightfulclaimtothesovereigntyofTaiwan,”butacknowledgedthatsincetheelectionofpresidentTsaiIng-wenin2016thecountryhasstartedrecognizingtheethnicandculturaldiversityofTaiwan.TsaiwasthefirstTaiwaneseleadertoapologizetothecountry’sindigenouspeople,andhaspledgedtobringabouttransitionaljusticetothepopulation,whichincludespromotinghistoricallyaccurateaccountsofviolationscommittedagainstindigenouspeople,andreparationsfortheirsuffering.Shehasalsosoughttoplayup (paywall)Taiwan’sethnicdiversity,incontrasttoXi’spromotionofethnicHancultureoverChina’sethnicandreligiousgroups.However,manyindigenouspeoplebelievethattheTsaigovernmenthasrenegedonitspromises,forexamplebycontinuingtoallowlargecorporationstobuildontheirland—justthelatestinthecenturies-longstruggleforindigenousrightsinTaiwan.📬KickoffeachmorningwithcoffeeandtheDailyBrief(BYOcoffee).SignmeupByprovidingyouremail,youagreetotheQuartzPrivacyPolicy.CopyDiscoverLatestObsessionsEmailsMenuDiscoverMembershipEmailsPodcastFieldGuidesPresentationsLatestTrendingObsessionsFeaturedSearchEditionsQuartzQuartzatWorkQuartzAfricaQuartzIndiaQuartzJapanMorefromQuartzAboutQuartzCareersDiversityandinclusionHelpcenterDownloadourappQuartzCreativeFollowQuartzFacebookTwitterInstagramYouTubeLinkedInUpdateyourbrowserforthebestexperience.