Control Yuan member to probe potentially discriminatory road names

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) A member of Taiwan's highest government supervisory body, the Control Yuan, on Wednesday launched an investigation into road names that may contain discriminatory language.

In a news release published on the Control Yuan's website, Upay Radiw Kanasaw (鴻義章) highlighted Fanjin Road, Fanzi Road and Fanshe Street in Changhua County's Puyan Township as examples of potentially problematic road names.

Kanasaw suggested that characters such as "fan" (番) and "man" (蠻) -- Chinese terms which historically often carried otherizing connotations of "barbarian" or "primitive" in reference to non-Chinese people -- could imply discrimination or stereotypes to Indigenous people in Taiwan.

Road names should "respect ethnic identity and cultural dignity," while local governments should establish mechanisms for cultural assessments and ethnic participation when naming or renaming roads, he said.

Kanasaw noted that some place names reflect Indigenous historical context and record interethnic interactions, pointing to Fanlu Township in Chiayi County as a key route to the Tsou people of Alishan.

However, he added that "a lack of cultural sensitivity in certain names continues to foster discrimination and affects Indigenous identity and cultural dignity."

Kanasaw said the investigation will also examine whether current rules for road naming and renaming are adequate to ensure that the naming of public spaces "reflects the values of respecting diversity and promoting social harmony."

According to a website run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), "There is growing appreciation in Taiwan for the cultural legacies of the 16 officially recognized Austronesian-speaking tribes, which constitute a little more than 2.5 percent of the population."

Taiwan's "predominantly Han Chinese society" is the result of "successive waves of Chinese immigrants that began arriving in the 17th century," the MOFA website said.