Stronger Nations Stronger Relations -New Prospects for Asia Pacific Regional Integration - Section on Social and Cultural Issues - Panel B Rediscovery of Social and Cultural Development
As we are engaging in the Asia-Pacific, the position of Taiwan as an early linguistic factor in the dispersal of languages is important to observe. The region is seeking collaboration and partnership with its associates of heritage. Taiwan from Neolithic prehistory has ushered in the Austronesian languages that became about 1,200 in number spreading across ocean settlements. For most of the region of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, the Austronesian speaking peoples have prevailed for several thousand years, extending from archaic origins, with examples found in Formosan languages, through the Malayo-Polynesian languages of the islands of Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Micronesia, Melanesia to Polynesia, and across the Indian Ocean to Madagascar. These languages are valuable, regardless of their extent, influence, or number of speakers, as part of the basic richness of humanity - a far-reaching legacy of communication and worldviews. 1