The Taipei High Administrative Court yesterday struck down Asia Cement Corp’s (亞泥) permit renewal for a mine in Hualien County’s Sincheng Township (新城), giving the Truku people a hard-won victory, civic groups said.
After operating the marble quarry for nearly 40 years, the company’s application to extend its permit to continue operations for another 20 years was approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in March 2017, months before it was set to expire on Nov. 22, 2017.
A massive protest gathered on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard in June 2017, after aerial footage shot by filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) — who was killed on June 10, 2017, in a helicopter crash while at work — appeared to show that the firm had expanded its operations at the quarry.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
After reviewing an administrative lawsuit filed by four Truku against the ministry in 2017, the court yesterday ordered the ministry to revoke its approval for the permit extension, as well as its rejection of the appeal.
A self-help group against Asia Cement hailed the ruling as “a win for the Truku people.”
In its ruling, the court referred to the developer’s failure to obtain local Aborigines’ approval for extending mining operations in their domains, as is required by Article 21 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法), the group said in a statement.
While negotiations among the Truku, Asia Cement and the ministry are ongoing, they hope that discussions for geological and land surveys, as well as quarry transformation would yield concrete results, the group added.
The ruling is a landmark in transitional justice for Aborigines, said Legal Aid Foundation lawyer Hsieh Meng-yu (謝孟羽), who has been assisting the plaintiffs.
Hopefully, the verdict would prompt an equal negotiation between the Truku, the ministry and Asia Cement, he added.
Applauding the court’s ruling, Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan urged the government to amend the Mining Act (礦業法) to close potential loopholes and to achieve President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) call to promote transitional justice.
Amendments to the Mining Act have been stalled at the Legislative Yuan for more than a year, organization member Huang Ching-ting (黃靖庭) said, adding that the group is awaiting cross-caucus negotiations in the next legislative session starting in September.
The ministry said that it would determine whether to appeal the ruling within two months after receiving the official verdict.
Following instructions from Tsai, the ministry has supervised three meetings between members of the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee, representatives of a local Truku committee and Asia Cement in an attempt to resolve conflicts, it said, adding that it is seeking a triple-win situation.
Asia Cement said it was disappointed about the decision and would appeal to uphold the rights of shareholders and employees within the legal time limit after it receives the verdict and consults with lawyers.
Asia Cement said that as the extension would be a continuation of mining rights, not new permissions, it is not covered by Article 21 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act, a decision that was made by the Executive Yuan in November 2016 and is followed by the ministry and the Council of Indigenous Peoples.
The company said the ruling would “seriously affect” any cases concerning extension of mining rights and land development, which would leave the industry bewildered, damage government credibility, harm the economy and take jobs from workers — including Aborigines.
Additional reporting by Natasha Li and Kwan Shin-han
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft