Aborigines and environmental groups yesterday demonstrated outside the Armed Forces Hero House (國軍英雄館) in Taipei, where Asia Cement was holding its annual shareholders’ meeting.
Shouting slogans such as “reform the mining sector” and “there are people living under the mines,” the protesters called on the firm to stop its mining operations in Hualien County’s Sincheng Township (新城) and Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西).
The company’s mining operations have met with renewed criticism since the Ministry of Economic Affairs in March last year approved its application to extend its mining rights for the Sincheng quarry by another 20 years.
Photo: Liu Li-jen, Taipei Times
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan researcher Huang Ching-ting (黃靖庭) entered the meeting and tried to voice the protesters’ opinions.
Huang said that Douglas Hsu (徐旭東), chairman of Far Eastern Group, which owns Asia Cement, asked Asia Cement president Lee Kun-yen (李坤炎) if the protesters had anything to do with them, to which Lee answered: “Kind of, but not really.”
Huang said she tried to remind them of their continuous exploitation of local residents, but she was removed by guards and police.
The protesters had several clashes with police as they tried to enter the building. After their efforts proved unsuccessful, they sat outside and sang Aboriginal songs.
The company in 1973 obtained the rights to mine in Sincheng, but it did not submit an environmental impact assessment, showing that its slogan of promoting sustainability is hollow, Citizen of the Earth chief executive Lee Ken-cheng (李根政) said, calling on the company to shoulder its corporate social responsibility.
The company has over the past four decades been using explosives near Fushih Village (富世) at the foot of the Sincheng mine and tried to intensify the conflict between the residents who support it and those who do not, said village resident Tien Ming-cheng (田明正), a Truku.
Truku people have filed an administrative appeal against the ministry’s decision, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association lawyer Tsai Ya-ying (蔡雅瀅) said, urging the shareholders to heed the risk of investing in the firm.
In its Guansi quarry, the company left the land stripped, resident Lo Cheng-hung (羅政宏) said, expressing his worry that their village might become another Siaolin Village (小林), which was ruined by Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
The company issued a statement saying that it respects the protesters’ opinions, but regrets their intention to disrupt the meeting.
It last week established a service center in Fushih to help local residents deal with any problems, including house repair, it said, adding that its second negotiation meeting with residents and government officials would take place in the second half of next month.
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