Taiwan's Indigenous Languages Development Act: democratic politics, transitional justice and the quest for diplomatic recognition

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn May 2017, Taiwan's legislature passed the Indigenous Languages Development Act (ILDA), which came into effect in June of that year. This paper traces the process and context that have led to the act's adoption, and provides an overview of its symbolic and substantive content. In doing so, this paper draws attention to the importance of contextual factors in the act's adoption. The ILDA had been in the works since the early 2000s, and it is only through a piecemeal approach to Indigenous legislation that it came into being. Its ultimate adoption was enabled by a conjuncture of social and political developments, most directly the election of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2016, after a campaign that emphasised issues of transitional justice, decolonisation and reconciliation. The momentum toward these trends has also been influenced by Taiwan's fragile political status. In fact, Taiwan's limited international recognition has incentivised the use of minority rights initiatives, together with the conduct of cultural diplomacy with the country's diplomatic and trade partners sharing Austronesian heritage, as sovereignty-building and soft power projection tools.