Paelabang Danapan

Paelabang Danapan, also known as Sun Ta-chuan, is a Taiwanese sinologist and politician. He had served as Minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples from 2009 to 2013 and Vice President of the Control Yuan from 2014 to 2020. Sun is a member of the Puyuma tribe in Taiwan, and is also a Roman Catholic.

Education

Paelabang Danapan received his bachelor's degree in Chinese literature from National Taiwan University, and bachelor's degree in philosophy from Fu Jen Catholic University. He then earned his Ph.D. in sinology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

Early career

Before entering politics, Paelabang Danapan was a professor at the National Chengchi University in Taipei and a professor of indigenous languages and communication at National Dong Hwa University. In 1993, he founded the Mountain Sea Culture Magazine, the first publication to dedicated to Taiwanese indigenous culture and literature. The Mountain Sea Literature Awards, sponsored by the publication starting in 1995, were the first literary awards for indigenous writers.