The Miaoli County Government yesterday announced that it would not appeal a court ruling in favor of the four families whose houses were forcefully demolished in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔) last year.
The county government’s decision not to file an appeal before the Wednesday deadline follows that of the Ministry of the Interior, which said on Jan. 28 that it would not contest the verdict.
However, the families have said that they do plan to appeal the ruling.
Photo: Peng Chien-li, Taipei Times
“The Miaoli County Government has decided not to appeal the court’s decision out of respect for the Ministry of the Interior, which decided not to appeal right before the Lunar New Year holiday,” Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) said yesterday.
“However, I want to make it clear that the county government will not pay a penny to compensate the families, or help them rebuild their homes. It is impossible for us to compensate them with Miaoli taxpayers’ money, because that would be simply unacceptable,” Liu said.
Last month, the Greater Taichung High Administrative Court ruled that the ministry and county government’s complete or partial tearing down of the four homes last year was illegal because both had failed to complete the procedures required to approve forced demolitions.
However, when addressing the plaintiffs’ request that the county government return their land and rebuild their homes, the court said that such restitution may not be possible since roads and pedestrian crossings have already been constructed on some of the land where the houses once stood.
Despite welcoming the ministry’s decision not to contest the ruling, the Dapu families decided to lodge an appeal because they insist that the county government should help them rebuild their homes.
“We decided to appeal the ruling, because the part in the ruling that says it’s not possible to return the land to the families and rebuild their homes since roads and pedestrian crossings have been built is unacceptable,” said Thomas Chan (詹順貴), a pro bono attorney and rights activist representing the families.
“It’s not difficult to eliminate a pedestrian crossing and dig up the pavement to give the families their land back,” Chan said.
Responding to the families’ decision, Deputy Minister of the Interior Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家淇) said that the ministry fully respects their right to appeal and would await the court’s decision.
“Meanwhile, I would like to let the families know that the ministry will keep its doors open for negotiations if they should want to hold talks,” Hsiao said.
The ministry has also said that it would look into how to compensate the families.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without