Celebrating the 96th National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

I am indeed proud to have been invited by John Liang and Taipei Economic and Cultural Office to acknowledge the significance of this day for all people of Taiwan.

I am so pleased to be here, to strengthen our relationships and to cherish the connections that we have to each other, both in this land and in your homeland.

This year I have a particular reason for my pleasure in joining your celebration.

In May the Maori Party was honoured to take part in a delegation of Maori Members of Parliament to Taiwan.

We had a wonderful trip– having the privilege of meeting with the indigenous people at Hua-lien, visiting the Mainland Affairs Council and the Council of Indigenous Peoples; enjoying Taiwan Indigenous television, and being absolutely spoilt with the hospitality extended to us.

It was my second visit to Taiwan – I have also had the opportunity to participate in a seminar on the impact of the 10th year anniversary of the Taiwan Strait Crisis. On that visit, I spent time at Wulai indigenous village, visited Atayal and travelled to the Taiwan borders.

In both these visits, I was struck by the similarities that we, as Maori, share with the indigenous peoples of your land.

As you are no doubt aware, there is a wealth of linguistic, cultural and archaeological evidence supporting the links between our peoples. In 2007, it is really exciting to see these links in the oral traditions, our spiritual beliefs, our rituals and procedures, even the practice of ta moko – or facial tattooing – is a shared tradition.

All of these similarities and all of our differences are appreciated by the Maori Party as providing the basis for a very strong relationship.

I am here tonight, to say to you – we treasure the gifts that your presence in this land offers. We support your determination and commitment to continue to honour everything that you are.

We are very clear that nationhood is in respecting the common experiences that unite us as well as the distinctive differences that makes each of us unique.

As tangata whenua of this land – we are inspired by the challenge of working together with all peoples who now call Aotearoa home. We seek peace, justice and ongoing dialogue to ensure that we can all achieve our aspirations to live in a nation in which all people are healthy, vibrant and strong.

We celebrate with you all, this 96th National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan).