In the late 19th century, Taiwan’s eastern region witnessed a series of violent clashes: In Tuku in 1876, the Dagangkou Incident of 1877 and the 1878 Karewan Incident. The events were triggered by the Qing Dynasty’s efforts to build roads and administrative outposts in indigenous territories. What they saw as development, local indigenous peoples experienced as invasion — an erasure of ancestral lands and sacred landscapes.
A similar dynamic unfolded in the north when Liu Ming-chuan (劉銘傳), Taiwan’s first inspector-general during the Qing Dynasty, started building Taiwan’s first railway in 1887, and continued into the 20th century with the construction of highways and industrial zones. Time and again, development plans designed without cultural understanding have been met with local resistance.
Today, the battleground has expanded beyond indigenous rights. Movements to stop the Miramar Resort in Taitung County, dam projects and cement mining, and efforts to protect coral reefs all reflect a growing distrust in top-down development that ignores environmental justice and collective memory. The activities are not anti-progress protests, but calls for genuine participation and respect.
To avoid repeating the cycles of conflict, begin with three fundamental shifts:
First, recognize historical trauma. Resistance often stems not from an aversion to change, but from deep wounds left by past displacements and violence. If policymakers cannot see the scars, they will mistake caution for obstruction.
Second, respect indigenous worldviews. To outsiders, land is a resource, but to indigenous communities, it is a sacred trust — the foundation of identity and survival. It is not a matter of differing opinions; it is a clash of cosmologies. Without mutual understanding, there can be no meaningful dialogue.
Third, implement genuine participatory mechanisms. Consultation must go beyond procedural hearings. Free, prior and informed consent must be more than a checkbox — it must grant agency to local communities, including the right to say no.
Roads can connect places, but they cannot bridge trust. Construction can reshape terrain, but it cannot repair fractured relationships. Taiwan’s future development must not repeat the colonizing patterns of the past. Only through dialogue, respect and shared decisionmaking can we build a land that honors all who call it home.
Tu Hsin-fu is an indigenous affairs advocate.
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