Activists pour ink on Koxinga statue
By Wang Chieh and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Aboriginal rights activists yesterday poured red ink on a statue of Koxinga (鄭成功) in Tainan’s North District (北區) to demand justice and autonomy for Aborigines, saying that the public should not revere a historical figure who massacred Aborigines and calling on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to prioritize Aboriginal justice issues.
The activists, carrying banners, gathered by the statute near Tainan Station and poured red ink on the the statute’s feet and pedestal, to symbolize that Koxinga had “trampled on the blood of Aborigines.”
Police arrived at the scene to stop the demonstrators, resulting in an argument.
The protesters said they are instructors at universities such as the National Cheng Kung University and Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU), adding that they are members of the Justice for Aborigines Alliance.
Lo Yung-ching (羅永清), an assistant professor of Taiwan Studies at CJCU, told reporters that Koxinga was “responsible for massacres and persecution of Aborigines,” adding that the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) draft bill to promote transitional justice “does not give due consideration to the Aboriginal historical perspective.”
Lo called on the Tsai administration and DPP lawmakers to draft a transitional justice bill to specifically to address Aboriginal groups, establish a committee for Aboriginal justice and work toward state reparations, self-governance and a restoration of “dignity and sovereignty” for Aborigines.
Although Tsai’s campaign platform included many of the alliance’s demands, including granting Aborigines substantive autonomy, Lo said it is time for Tsai to fulfill those promises.
“President Siao Ing should not think that an oral apology is enough to put the matter to rest,” Lo said, using Tsai’s nickname.
Tsai has promised to officially apologize to Aborigines in her capacity as president on Monday, Aborigines Day.
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