Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Taiwan to establish Austronesian Forum with allies

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) Taiwan will establish an Austronesian Forum with its six South Pacific allies and the Philippines to share, preserve and promote Austronesian cultures that the eight countries have in common, as well as strengthening relations, Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) officials said Tuesday.

The forum, which includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Nauru, Kiribati, Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands, aims to hold academic conferences, increase Austronesian participation in Asia-Pacific and international organizations, and demonstrate commitment in indigenous development, said CIP Minister Icyang Parod in a preparatory committee meeting.

One of the forum's priorities is to stop China's attempt to include Austronesian cultures on the list of its World Cultural Heritage in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) , said Awi Mona, an indigenous Taiwanese law professor.

As Taiwan has stepped up its efforts to preserve and promote its Austronesian culture and ethnicity in recent years, China came to realize that this will further alienate and distance Taiwan from China, Mona said.

This is why China is said to be planning to submit an application to UNESCO next year to list Austronesian culture as its own cultural heritage, even though Austronesian culture was never a part of Chinese culture, Mona said.

"If China succeeds, it will be not only a devastating blow to Taiwan but also to every country that shares the culture, " he claimed.

The idea of building up stronger ties among Austronesian nations was mentioned as early as 2002, when an assembly of Austronesian leaders was held in Taipei and began to materialize as a regional forum last year in the first Taiwan-Pacific Allies summit in Palau, during which President Chen Shui-bian signed the Palau Declaration with various allies, Parod said.

Chen will unveil the preparatory office of the forum Wednesday and the secretariat of the forum is expected to be established next year in Taiwan, which will provide the majority of funding for the forum, said Parod.

The forum is hoping to invite more countries, such as New Zealand, to be members and it welcomes the participation of government officials as well as academics and non-government organization workers, he added.