Residents of HoulongTownship (後龍) , Miaoli County, yesterday accused police of physically assaulting them for protesting the construction of funeral facility and cemetery park and accused Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) of illegal colluding with the private developer of the project.
A video recording shown at a press conference organized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) and Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) showed hundreds of Miaoli police officers pushing their way into the crowd to guard the entrance to the site and clashing with the protesters, most of whom were elderly farmers, at about 6am on Wednesday.
Contractors were able to start construction work on the Gods Park, a 24.8 hectare funeral facility and cemetery park described by the Miaoli County Government as its flagship “Build-Own-Operate” (BOO) project, after more than 300 policemen cleared the site, leaving at least one woman injured.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The woman, Du Lin Yin-mei (杜林銀妹) showed her head injury at the press conference and said police officers carrying riot shields and truncheons had said nothing before they started to push and hit demonstrators, who were part of a self-help group.
National Police Administration section chief Chen Chin-ling (陳金陵) said Miaoli police cleared the crowd because the protesters had caused serious traffic concerns by blocking Provincial Highway No. 1, but he said the county police department would review its enforcement procedures.
The Miaoli County Police Department did not send a representatives to the press conference.
Chen Chi-mai said the police department had abused its power by using unnecessary force against peaceful and unarmed demonstrators.
The incident was the latest in a long list of controversial law enforcement cases in Miaoli County, after the county government seized farmland in Dapu Township (大埔) by blocking off roads and sending excavators into farms in June 2010, attracting national attention, Chen said.
“This is a second Dapu incident and once again County Commissioner Liu has made himself the enemy of the people with his ruthlessness,” Chen added.
Wu described the incident as a second “Shilin (士林) incident,” referring to an incident where a local government acted to protect contractors against protesting members of the public.
The Shilin incident grabbed the national spotlight in late March, when police officers were ordered by the Taipei City Government to evict residents from a 135-year-old two-story building in Shilin District belonging to a family surnamed Wang, in order to make way for an urban renewal project.
Longkeng Village (龍坑) head Kuo Kuei-hui (郭貴輝) said neither the government nor the contractor had bothered to consult local people about the God’s Park project, which began in 2007, and that residents are worried about environmental pollution and the park’s proximity to two elementary schools.
Liu used his administrative powers to reduce the minimum legal distance between schools and cemeteries from 300m to 250m, self-help group president Hsu Chin-fu (許金福) said.
“And the change was made after the agreement was signed between Miaoli County Government and the contractors,” Hsu added.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS