Taiwan attends a UN Forum - yes I'm not joking

Sometimes with all the fuss over the name Taiwan should have at the WHO/WHA it is easy to forget that both Governmental (Cabinet level) and non-governmental representatives from Taiwan in recent years have quietly attended the annual UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. That's right, Taiwan attends a UN meeting as a full and equal member, sending officials from the Government in their capacity as ... well .... the officials that they are. The Taipei Times has the scoop today:

Led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Aboriginal Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉), a Taiwan Indigenous Survival and Development Association (TISDA) delegation is leaving for New York today to take part in the eighth annual UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

“The main objective of the TISDA delegation will be to discuss and exchange ideas with indigenous groups from other countries on Aboriginal policies — especially on Aboriginal autonomy — after the UN adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007,” Kung told a news conference at the legislature yesterday.

The Council of Indigenous People (CIP) sent a delegation to the forum earlier this week, but the TISDA delegation will be the only non-governmental group representing Taiwanese Aborigines at the meeting.

Kung said he would deliver a keynote speech on the current status of Aboriginal policies in Taiwan to an international audience.

“Although I’m affiliated with the governing party, I will tell the truth and not hide anything [during the speech],” Kung said.

“I will point out that Aboriginal policies, especially progress on autonomy, is seriously delayed because of a lack of execution and determination in the CIP leadership,” he said.

“At the moment, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are fighting over ideological differences,” he said. “We Aborigines must not be dragged into it; only authentic autonomy could bring Aborigines a bright future.”

Note that a National Legislator will be delivering a key note speach at the UN forum to an international audience. So, despite the craven cowardice of Ma and his cabinet to stand up for Taiwan's separate and distinct sovereignty, at least there are some in the aboriginal community who value autonomy and self-determination and are principled enough to stand up and take that message to the UN.

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