The Austronesian Forum, consisting of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Nauru, the Philippines and Taiwan, approved an organization charter July 31. All members agreed on setting up such a forum, Rien Morris, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Marshall Islands and a representative to the forum, said in an Aug. 1 report by Taiwan's Central News Agency. The charter would come into force by Aug. 31.
The purpose of the forum was to bring the Austronesian communities, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific region, together to promote democracy, human rights and sustainable development, according to the forum's charter.
The establishment of the forum followed the signing of the "Palau Declaration" during the First Taiwan-Pacific Allies Summit held in Palau September 2006, ROC President Chen Shui-bian said at the inauguration. The countries had pledged to bolster cooperation in capacity building, economic development and in areas of society and culture, Chen said in his inauguration address.
Taiwan held the forum each year since 2002 in a bid to increase cultural exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and the Pacific countries, as well as among speakers of Austronesian languages, and now, the forum would be transformed into a permanent organization, Chen said. In particular, he stressed that he expected the forum to serve as an open platform for communication, through which closer partnership between Austronesian peoples could be promoted.
Austronesian peoples constituted one of the world's most important ethnic families, and Taiwan, with an indigenous population of 480,000, possessed close ties to all Austronesian peoples through a shared heritage, Chen said, citing scholarly sources. Chen stressed that Taiwan's indigenous communities were the fountains "from which Taiwan's culture has sprung." Their cultural artifacts were all precious pieces of the world's culture, he added.
The focus of the forum's efforts was to boost cultural and academic development, economic cooperation and environmental protection, as well as increasing Austronesian participation in international organizations over issues concerning indigenous peoples, CIP Minister Icyang Parod said in the statement.
Indigenous people of the Austronesian families had a common heritage, where the environment defined their culture, which was totally different from that of the Han Chinese people, Taiwan's predominant ethnic group, Lin Chien-shiang said Aug. 3. Lin is a Han Taiwanese filmmaker who has worked closely with Orchid Islanders on documentary films as well as a team member on the Ipanga na 1001 sea voyage.
Having participated in the forum event, where he saw a familiarity between Taiwan's aborigines and representatives from the Pacific countries, Lin said the country could play a substantive role in many issues through promoting ties between aboriginal communities in Taiwan and the Pacific region. For example, he said, the forum could help Tuvalu, which was facing the threat of a rising sea level due to global warming, in dealing with such problems.
Write to June Tsai at june@mail.gio.gov.tw