A move to amend the Act for the Utilization and Transfer of Reserved Mountainous Land (山坡地保育利用條例) may have the best of intentions, but it should be firmly shut down. The last thing this nation needs is an amendment that would make it easier for anyone to access such land and convert it into more concrete — be it for a hotel, a resort or tea shop. Yet, adding more concrete to the landscape is what the measure is really about, whether the proponents want to admit it or not.
The law allows Aborigines to gain ownership of reserved mountainous lands if they first receive permission to rent or farm a piece of land which they then utilize for five consecutive years. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jeng Tian-tsair (鄭天財), an Amis, thinks this is wrong because at present the restrictions apply only to Aborigines, so he wants to eliminate the waiting period entirely. That’s like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Opponents of his proposal say any moves making it easier to gain access to such lands would open the way for more developers and non-Aborigines to take over the land — and they are correct. Just look at what has happened to Alishan and Sun Moon Lake; most of the businesses there are owned and operated by non-Aborigines. While both areas milk Aboriginal culture and heritage to attract tourists, few of the economic benefits are actually reaped by Aboriginal residents.
All too often, government officials — at all levels — pay tribute to Taiwan’s Aboriginal tribes as national assets from a cultural point of view, but do little to protect these assets from assimilation efforts or invasive development, whether it be under the current or former KMT administration or the Democratic Progressive Party.
There are still too many ways for developers to evade restrictions on land use and build in predominantly Aboriginal areas. Just look at the farce that the Meiliwan Resort Village at Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣), Taitung County, has become — it is like a bad science fiction movie: “The development that cannot be killed.”
The developers thumbed their noses at the central government from the very beginning by starting construction before applying for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Even though the project’s construction permit and the EIA have since been ruled invalid in court, the Taitung County Government, which is a partner in the project, has ignored the rulings and allowed construction to continue. The Supreme Administrative Court ruled in January that the beachfront resort was guilty of procedural violations, and that the county government had failed to ask the developer to present evidence to prove that the project would not pollute the ocean — where the coral reefs are already under threat.
Over the past six years, there have been fervent protests by Aborigines, environmental activists and others over the resort, but still the work continues. What will it take to halt this project? It is obvious that the county government, having a vested interest, cannot be relied upon to do its job, and yet the central government appears oblivious.
While the fall-back rationale is that development will boost tourism and provide employment opportunities, the truth is that Aboriginal culture and traditions will be trampled on and the wealth will remain in non-Aboriginal hands.
Instead of amending the Act for the Utilization and Transfer of Reserved Mountainous Land to make it easier for Aborigines or non-Aborigines to rent or utilize the land, the legislators should be making it harder for everyone to gain access. Lawmakers should also pass amendments to beef up the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民族基本法) to offer more protection to Aboriginal land, culture and lifestyles.
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China