The Executive Yuan yesterday designated an agricultural zone within a planned science park expansion in Miaoli in a bid to resolve the Dapu farmland controversy caused by the expropriation of 24 families’ land. The move failed to impress the farmers, who said they just want their own land back.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said the 24 households would be given plots of the same size as their seized land within a 5 hectare reserved zone after the Miaoli County Government completes the seizure process. The government would also help the farmers diversify into organic farming, he said.
“There will be an agricultural zone next to a science park at Jhunan [Township (竹南)],” Wu told a press conference attended by Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) and Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄).
“We reached the conclusion in response to local farmers’ desire to retain land for farming,” Wu said, adding that he hoped the decision would meet the expectations of all concerned.
Liu apologized to the public for the first time at the press conference, saying he had “failed to supervise my subordinates and allowed them to drive excavators in there.”
He did not respond, however, when asked if he should bear political responsibility for the controversy.
“We know that the 24 farming families have suffered great losses. I really didn’t know there were rice paddies there,” Liu said.
Wu and Liu’s comments failed to move farmers’ representatives.
“I will not comment on the proposal because we haven’t seen anything concrete yet, and Liu has lied to us too many times,” Dapu Self-Help Association spokeswoman Yeh Hsiu-tao (葉秀桃) said. “We demand [the county government] gives back our lands, gives back our soil, that they restore everything that was on the land before they destroyed it.”
It took generations of Dapu residents and more than 200 years to turn the once-arid soil into good arable land, Yeh said, adding: “We don’t want to move to another place and start over again.”
What has happened to Dapu was not an isolated case, Yeh said, which is why the farmers were demanding the revision of laws on land expropriation so that no other farmers have to suffer what they are going through now.
Wu’s announcement came after a public outcry over the Miaoli County Government’s expropriation of a total of 28 hectares in Jhunan’s Dapu Borough (大埔). The county sent in excavators to dig up rice paddies despite some farmers’ opposition. Liu said at the time that the county government was acting according to the law and had completed the legal process to transfer land ownership.
Photographs and video clips of the demolitions spread quickly on the Internet and in the media, shining a spotlight on years of campaigning by farmers against land expropriation.
Farmers from Dapu, along with those in Wanbao Borough (灣寶) in Miaoli’s Houlong Township (後龍), Erchongpu (二重埔) in Hsinchu County’s Jhudong Township (竹東), Siangsihliao (相思寮) in Changhua County’s Erlin Township (二林) and Taipei County’s Tucheng (土城) rallied last Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard to protest land seizures.
Liu Ching-chang (劉慶昌), who led Saturday’s protest, said the government’s offer was unacceptable, and threatened to hold another demonstration.
Wu said he could not promise not to include specific agricultural areas in future development projects, but the government would not take changing the status of these areas for granted when drawing up policy.
Asked what role, if any, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) played in the negotiations between farmers and Liu, Wu said: “The president cares about farmers or he would not have pushed through the Rural Revitalization Act (農村再生條例).”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN AND CNA
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
‘IRRESPONSIBLE’: Beijing’s constant disruption of the ‘status quo’ in the Taiwan Strait has damaged peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, MOFA said The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China’s launch of another military drill around Taiwan, saying such actions are a “unilateral provocation” that destabilizes regional peace and stability. China should immediately stop the irresponsible and provocative actions, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday announced the start of a new round of joint exercises around Taiwan by the army, navy and air force, which it said were approaching “from different directions.” Code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” the exercises would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan
UNDER WAY: The contract for advanced sensor systems would be fulfilled in Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 2031, the Pentagon said Lockheed Martin has been given a contract involving foreign military sales to Taiwan to meet what Washington calls “an urgent operational need” of Taiwan’s air force, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The contract has a ceiling value of US$328.5 million, with US$157.3 million in foreign military sales funds obligated at the time of award, the Pentagon said in a statement. “This contract provides for the procurement and delivery of 55 Infrared Search and Track Legion Enhanced Sensor Pods, processors, pod containers and processor containers required to meet the urgent operational need of the Taiwan air force,” it said. The contract’s work would be
RSS