The Tainan City Government and the Siraya people have worked together for many years to achieve a successful constitutional interpretation.

The picture shows the promotion activities of the last (2021) Siraya Cultural Festival and Ethnic Concert.

(Provided by Tainan City Government)

[Reporter Hong Ruiqin/Tainan Report] The Siraya people’s constitutional interpretation was successful. Mayor Huang Weizhe said today (28) that the Constitutional Court’s ruling is in line with the universal value of protecting basic human rights, and that the Siraya people have been given their due status rights, demonstrating the government’s attention Transitional justice and human rights protection, I hope the central government will initiate relevant amendments to protect the rights of the Siraya people.

Huang Weizhe said that after years of hard work, the Siraya name rectification movement was finally approved by the Justice of the Constitutional Court, allowing them to have aboriginal identity. This is for the Siraya and all Pingpu people. Both are a major victory.

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Huang Weizhe said that when President Tsai Ing-wen ran for election in 2016, he also included the rectification of the name of the Sirayas into his main political views. Vice President Lai Qingde, who served as mayor in the past, also listed the Sirayas as the municipal aborigines of Tainan City. The county and city that first accepted the Sirayas as aboriginal peoples. In the past, he served as the mayor of Tainan County and the city government to fight side by side with the Sirayas. This achievement belongs to all the Sirayas. He thanked everyone for their efforts.

Bai Huilan Salau Kaljimuran, chairman of the Nanshi Aboriginal Association, pointed out that the Siraya people have always insisted on the belief that the right to identity is a birthright that cannot be deprived or violated. With the opinions of the tribes and relatives, and in line with the progress of the central government’s revision of the law, they will jointly formulate relevant policies and cultural revitalization, and promote various rights after the rectification of names.

The Shiraya ethnic group in Tainan City tried to be registered as Taiwan's aborigines, but was rejected by the Aboriginal Association of the Executive Yuan on the grounds that it did not meet the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 2 of the Aboriginal Status Law.

The city government and the Siraya people have been fighting for rectification for more than seven years. Today, the Constitutional Court ruled that the provisions of the Aboriginal Identity Act are unconstitutional, and the amendment must be completed within three years.

The Siraya people in Tainan City are expected to officially register and restore their aboriginal status after the revision of the law and become Taiwan's aborigines.

The city government stated that it will implement policies to promote the Pingpu ethnic group, including the recognition of the Siraya people as the Tainan aboriginal people, and in 2016, it promulgated the "Tainan City Siraya People's Revitalization and Development Measures" and established the "Tainan City Siraya Aboriginal People". "Affair Promotion Association" to demonstrate the city government's attention and respect for the Siraya people; in addition, it provides Siraya scholarships, bursaries and talent training awards, the reconstruction of the KUVA lively settlement plan, and the "Original Voice" Southern City Siraya Cultural Festival , "Respect for the Aged Aborigines Card" and other specific measures.

Siraya's name was rectified and the constitutional interpretation was successful.

The picture shows the (2021) Siraya Cultural Festival and Ethnic Concert. Wan Zhengxiong (left), the founder of the Rectification Movement, and Tainan Mayor Huang Weizhe (right) jointly promoted the event.

(Provided by Tainan City Government)