In her inauguration address on May 20, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that she would make a formal apology to Aborigines on behalf of the nation on Aug. 1.
Meanwhile, there have been media reports that the Shanyuan Palm Beach Resort development project in Taitung County’s Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) has conditionally passed an environmental impact assessment.
On April 16, the Taiwan Association in Germany convened an annual conference in Berlin. The day before the conference, the Taiwanese film Wawa no Cidal (太陽的孩子) was screened, making the audience empathize with the Aborigines’ frustrations and pain. The directors of the film, Cheng Yu-chieh (鄭有傑) and Lekal Sumi, who is part Amis, were invited to Berlin to talk to the audience in a forum after the screening. This was before Tsai’s inauguration and the public had very high expectations of her government.
Aborigines are true Taiwanese, but foreign powers have continuously tried to either chase them away or oppress them.
Sumi said that ever since the Qing Dynasty came to power in China, Aborigines have been forced to leave their land.
The Amis people live by the ocean and the ocean is their “refrigerator,” as they only catch the fish they need. They treasure the sea and marine resources, and do not abuse them, because they see themselves as being at one with nature. When the military performs drills, they often unknowingly open fire on sacred Aboriginal land and islands, which is heartbreaking to Aborigines.
After a series of protests, the construction of the Miramar Resort Village was stopped, but Sumi told of another construction, whose area is several times larger than the Miramar project. That project is the Shanyuan Palm Beach Resort project and it is in even more need of public attention.
Taiwanese, abroad and at home, are watching how the Tsai administration will show goodwill toward Aborigines.
Tourists take the trouble to travel from afar to enjoy and admire the natural beauty of their destination, but nothing remains natural once it is developed. Tourists who want to enjoy the environment in its natural state would instead find themselves standing among rows of hotels, looking at a ruined horizon. They would find ugly concrete parking lots among high-rise buildings — they travel to find nature, but it is not there anymore.
Meanwhile, the ocean, which some Aborigines depend on for their livelihood, is ruined. As a consequence, they have to move to the cities. Would there be anything of value left for tourists to see in Taitung? Why would anyone want to go there if there is nothing special about it? It is absurd to destroy what tourists want to see and build something artificial in the hope that it would attract tourists to the area.
If the excuse they use is that the tourists want to stay in five-star hotels, then let those tourists stay in the big cities.
Taitung is for those who want to see nature in its original, unadulterated state. Those who do not understand the need to respect nature are just unscrupulous consortia and tourists. Taitung is Taiwan’s last natural paradise and they should all be denied access to it.
Liou Uie-liang is a psychiatric nurse.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
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