In an open letter to Xi Jinping, Taiwan’s indigenous call on China to respect the self-determination of the island and its indigenous population.
The News Lens0
Date: 2019/01/09
By: Nick Aspinwall
Credit: Reuters / Nicky Loh
Representatives from Taiwan’s indigenous communities issued a joint statement yesterday in response to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said in a Jan. 2 speech that Taiwan “must and will be” united with China based on the so-called “1992 Consensus.”
Taiwan’s indigenous have inhabited the island for over 6,000 years, long before the first Han Chinese settlers reached its shores.
In their statement, titled “Indigenous Peoples of Taiwan to President Xi Jinping of China,” Taiwan’s indigenous leaders write that Taiwan “has never belonged to China.”
“We are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan and have lived in Taiwan, our motherland, for more than six thousand years,” the letter says. “We are not ethnic minorities within the so-called ‘Chinese nation.’” [FULL STORY]