Prior to the 2000 presidential election, then-candidate Chen Shui-bian called for a "new partnership" that would advance the indigenous peoples 'movement, put relations on something approaching a state-to-state level, and move Taiwan's indigenous peoples towards political autonomy.
千禧年總統大選前，當時的總統候選人陳水扁提出「新夥伴關係」，進一步讓台灣的原民運動，提升到「準國與國」的高度，並朝向「原住民族自治」的目標邁進。