Residents of Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔) erupted in tears yesterday after the Taichung High Administrative Court ruled that the county government had illegally destroyed houses belonging to four families last year.
The court said the Ministry of the Interior had failed to conduct a review of a project submitted by the Miaoli County Government to demolish the private homes in Dapu to make way for a science park before approving the project.
The partial or complete demolition of homes belonging to the Chang (張), Chu (朱), Ko (柯) and Huang (黃) families was therefore unlawful, the court said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The very emotional Dapu residents and their supporters were quick to demand apologies from the government, reconstruction of their homes and revision of laws governing land expropriation.
“Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻), as well as every official in the county and central governments who made the decision to flatten our houses, should apologize to us, not only through the media, but by making house-to-house apologies in person,” said Peng Hsiu-chun (彭秀春), the wife of Chang Sen-wen (張森文), who committed suicide last year after their home was demolished.
“Liu should return our land to us and rebuild our homes to their original state, but even that is not enough, because he can never bring my husband back to life,” Peng told a press conference in Taipei.
Photo: Peng Chian-lee, Taipei Times
Huang Chiu-hung (黃秋紅) tearfully recounted how her family suffered over the past few years, and how she has lived in fear that her mother might carry out her comments about committing suicide.
“The county government has destroyed the front yard of our house, and dumped rocks and debris on our farmland. I want it to rebuild everything and restore everything to its original state,” she said.
Ko Chih-chuan (柯智傳) said he appreciated the verdict, but was not happy.
“I feel no joy in winning the lawsuit, because we have a long way to go in our struggle to amend the Land Expropriation Act (土地徵收條例),” Ko said. “If the law is not revised, there will be more tragedies like the one we have suffered. We must stand up against the evil law.”
Even Liao Pen-chuan (廖本全), an associate professor at National Taipei University’s real estate and built environment department, who had appeared so strong in previous public appearances, started to cry as he talked during the press conference.
“It is hard not to be emotional if you have been following the issue for a long time,” he said. “Besides asking the government to restore everything to its original state, we should also pursue efforts to change the system and pursue the county commissioner, the ministry and the Executive Yuan who were responsible [for the destruction].”
Asked if they would seek compensation from the government, Thomas Chan (詹順貴), an attorney representing the residents, said his clients were unlikely to do so unless the money came directly from the pockets of the officials involved.
“If the compensation will come from taxpayers’ pockets, we would rather not ask for it,” he said.
At a separate press conference later in day, Deputy Minister of the Interior Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家淇) insisted the ministry had conducted thorough reviews of the project numerous times before approving it, “but we would respect the different view of the judge.”
“The fact that the court ruled in favor of nine plaintiffs belonging to four families, but rejected the lawsuit filed by 19 others, shows that overall the project is necessary and beneficial to the public,” Hsiao said.
He said the ministry would wait until it receives the verdict in writing and discusses it with the Miaoli County Government before deciding whether to file an appeal.
Activists demonstrating in the lobby of the ministry said Hsiao was trying to confuse the public.
“The court rejected the other lawsuits not because the judge believed that the project is necessary and beneficial to the public, but, as the court statement indicated, the 19 other plaintiffs agreed to compensation measures proposed by the county government,” Taiwan Rural Front member Lin Le-xin (林樂昕) said.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS