Wu Li-hua (Chinese: 伍麗華; born 12 August 1969), known in the Rukai language as Saidhai Tahovecahe, is a Taiwanese Rukai educator and politician. She is the first legislator of the Democratic Progressive Party to represent the Highland Aborigine Constituency, to which she was elected in 2020.

Saidhai Tahovecahe
Wu Li-hua
伍麗華
Wu as a member of the Tenth Legislative Yuan
Member of the Legislative Yuan
Assumed office
1 February 2020
Preceded byChien Tung-ming
ConstituencyHighland Aborigine
Personal details
Born (1969-08-12) 12 August 1969 (age 55)
Maolin District, Kaoshiung, Taiwan
NationalityRepublic of China
Political partyDemocratic Progressive Party
EducationNational Pingtung University of Education (BA, MA)

Early life and teaching career

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Wu is from Wanshan Village, in Maolin District, Kaohsiung.[1][2] She was born on 12 August 1969,[3] to a mother of Rukai descent, and a father of Mainland Chinese descent.[4] She earned degrees from the National Pingtung University of Education, and, during a 27-year career in education, served as a principal within two primary schools in Pingtung County.[5][6]

Political career

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Wu worked in the Pingtung County Government under the administration of magistrate Pan Men-an starting in 2016.[7] She was credited with increasing the vote share among the indigenous population for Pan.[8] In Pan's administration, Wu was the director-general of the Indigenous Peoples Department and later the director of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs.[9][10] She was subsequently appointed to the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee.[11][12] In this capacity, Wu was one of the signatories of an open letter addressed to Xi Jinping on behalf of Taiwanese indigenous people in January 2019, shortly after he had commented on Chinese unification and the political status of Taiwan.[13][14]

In August 2019, Wu was nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party to run for legislative office in the multimember Highland Aborigine Constituency.[8][15] In January 2020, Wu was elected to the Legislative Yuan as one of three representatives in the Highland Aborigine Constituency.[16] She succeeded Chien Tung-ming, who did not run for reelection.[4] With her electoral victory, Wu became the first Democratic Progressive Party legislator to represent the Highland Aborigine Constituency.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Davies, Daniel (31 October 2019). "Reserved for whom? The shifting dynamics of indigenous voting behaviour in southern Taiwan". Taiwan Insight. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  2. ^ Umav (3 December 2019). "跨族群歡聚 台南原住民教會聯合聖誕禮拜". Taiwan Church News (in Chinese). Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  3. ^ "1號 伍麗華Saidai‧Tarovecahe". Liberty Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b 郭, 芷瑄 (11 January 2020). "出身教育界 伍麗華成為民進黨第1席山原立委" (in Chinese). Central News Agency. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  5. ^ "民進黨唯一山地原住民立委參選人 伍麗華今登記". Liberty Times (in Chinese). 19 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  6. ^ 林, 婉婷 (26 November 2019). "Saidai參選山原立委 排灣中會成立後援會". Taiwan Church News (in Chinese). Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  7. ^ 林, 瑋豐; 顏, 振凱; 黃, 信維 (11 January 2020). "民進黨首度攻下山地原住民立委!伍麗華將進國會改善偏鄉教育" (in Chinese). Yahoo! Taiwan. Storm Media. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  8. ^ a b 江, 國豪 (6 August 2019). "刺客登場!屏東縣原民處長伍麗華 投入山原立委選戰". United Daily News. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Pingtung community opens nation's first coffee auction". Taipei Times. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  10. ^ Chiu, Chih-jou; Chung, Jake (11 July 2019). "Medals won by Aboriginal choirs giving elders hope". Taipei Times. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  11. ^ "Presidential Office news release following eighth meeting of Presidential Office Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee". Office of the President of the Republic of China. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Presidential Office news release following ninth meeting of Presidential Office Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee". Office of the President of the Republic of China. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Indigenous Peoples of Taiwan to President Xi Jinping of China". Medium. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  14. ^ "'This is sacred space': An open letter to Xi Jinping from the indigenous peoples of Taiwan". Hong Kong Free Press. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  15. ^ 郭, 芷瑄 (7 August 2019). "屏東原民處長伍麗華參選立委 從部落出發". Central News Agency. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  16. ^ 林, 宜瑩 (12 January 2020). "蔡賴得票817萬勝出 長老教會牧者稱展現「台灣人拒絕九二共識」". Taiwan Church News (in Chinese). Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  17. ^ 周, 家豪 (12 January 2020). "民進黨首名山地原住民立委!伍麗華勤走部落攻破藍營防線". Newtalk (in Chinese). Retrieved 14 January 2020.