00:00Taiwan's Pingpu indigenous groups are one step closer to full recognition.
00:06Recently, the first law that validates their identity has been passed by the Legislative Yuan.
00:12The legal changes follow a landmark 2022 Constitutional Court ruling
00:16that said all Austronesian-speaking peoples beyond Taiwan's 16 recognized indigenous groups
00:22should be allowed to identify as indigenous.
00:24For the nearly one million Pingpu people, the ruling was a major step toward recognition.
00:45The Pingpu are lowland indigenous peoples who were gradually absorbed into Han culture,
00:50leading to a loss of their distinct heritage, and they're not officially recognized as indigenous.
00:56But it's about more than just having an official title.
00:59Under current laws, the 16 recognized indigenous groups are granted special rights,
01:04like the ability to hunt and own reserve land, and preferential treatment in college admissions.
01:10None of those benefits are included in the new law for Pingpu peoples.
01:13The new law has given the legislature three years to grant the Pingpu the resources,
01:43a deadline that may force lawmakers to speed up the process.
01:49Regardless of what happens next, the Pingpu people still have a long road ahead of them
01:53to achieve full recognition.
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