Justice for Aborigines: beyond Koxinga

By Ljegay Rupeljengan





On Monday last week, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) made a speech in which she apologized to Aborigines, saying that: “The Dutch and the Koxinga Kingdom massacred and exploited the Pingpu… For this, I apologize to indigenous peoples on behalf of the government.”

The pursuit of historical truth and justice has always been a murky process, kept shrouded in secrecy by the ruling government of the day. In fact, under the persecution of Koxinga (國姓爺), also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), 1,000 Pingpu (平埔) were killed and 10,000 hectares of their land was seized.

While compiling historical records, Pingpu anthropologist Pan Ying (潘英) said that Koxinga’s government is viewed by Pingpu as a tyrannical foreign regime. However, through the lens of unitary Han-centric history, Koxinga is revered as a national hero, the founder and “sage ruler” of Taiwan.

The Restore Indigenous Justice Front campaign is asking that the government remove all statues of Koxinga and cease holding Koxinga cultural festivals. We are making this appeal in order to uphold human dignity and to pursue historical truth. We must honestly and openly face historic conflicts between ethnic groups and counter the misleading, benign image of oppressive rulers. It is only by revealing their true nature, in accordance with historical fact — and by acknowledging mistakes — that the wounds of conflict will finally be able to heal. Taiwan’s ethnic minorities would then have the power to engage in national reconciliation.

The front has four demands:

First, that the government, within six months, eliminate authoritarian symbols in accordance with the draft legislation for the promotion of transitional justice, and — just as statues of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) have been disposed of — remove all Koxinga statues, change any place or street names which include the words “yanping” — a reference to Koxinga’s title, the Prince of Extended Peace — or “chenggong” (成功), a reference to his name, and modify the description of the Koxinga regime in school curricula.

Second, governments must cease all commemorative Koxinga festivals.

Third, Tainan is the point where Koxinga’s regime first set foot on Taiwan. It is also the home of Siraya people; one of the city’s officially recognized indigenous peoples. We call on Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) to take the lead in responding to Tsai’s official apology by removing all Koxinga statues from the city’s public spaces and cease holding any Koxinga-related celebratory events. If Lai does this, he will be able to create an ethnic minority friendly space that others can emulate.

Fourth, Taiwan Indigenous TV and the Public Television Service should every year set aside no less than 300 hours of airtime to dramas and documentaries that promote the return of land to Aborigines and historical truth about Koxinga.

The most important change to come out of Taiwan’s democratization process is that democracy can no longer be used by rulers as a tool to bully and oppress minorities. Almost 20 years after democratization in Taiwan, there is an opportunity to put to bed the ethnic problems created during the authoritarian era; we cannot allow it to slip away. Only historical justice will allow Taiwan to close the door on the authoritarian era.

Removing Koxinga statues and initiating transitional justice will allow Taiwan to become a truly just society. Let us work together to create a just, multicultural and fair nation.

Ljegay Rupeljengan is an associate professor at National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Earth Sciences, vice chairman of the Taiwan First Nations Party and a member of the Restore Indigenous Justice Front.

Translated by Edward Jones