wfn.org | PCT joins mass protest against farmland expropriation

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3047 Edition

>July 19~July 25, 2010

PCT joins mass protest against farmland expropriation

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong, Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

More than 1,000 farmers across Taiwan gathered in Taipei in front  of the 
Presidential Palace

in the evening of July 17, 2010, to protest against the Ma  administration for 
its handling of

Miaoli County’s forced expropriation of farmland. Citizens  touched by the 
plight of farmers

joined them in decrying President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Wu  Den-yih’s 
aloofness in

>response to such injustices.

Conflict arose between farmers in Dapu, Miaoli and Miaoli County  when the 
government

seized and demolished rice paddies ready for harvesting in order  to make way 
for

development projects. Similar incidents also occurred in Taipei  County, 
Taoyuan County,

Hsinchu County, Taichung County, and Changhua County and the trend  is slowly 
sparking

>nationwide concern.

According to reports, there are still 2,263 hectares of unused  land reserved 
for “Industrial

Parks” and 253 hectares of vacant land reserved for  “Science Parks” across 
Taiwan, but the

latest government development projects don’t seem to take  these lands into 
consideration.

Instead, officials have opted for expropriating more and more  farmland from 
peasants,

prompting critics to wonder about ulterior motives.

DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin who is a Christian, was present at  this 
demonstration and

mingled with protestors. She said the KMT government’s record  on infringing on 
the rights of

farmers has become progressively worse in recent years.

PCT leaders were also among the crowd of protestors on that night  to represent 
the church’s

solidarity with farmers. Pastors who were present included  Associate General 
Secretary Lyim

Hong-tiong, Church and Society Committee Secretary Huang Che-yen,  and 
Indigenous

Ministry Committee Secretary Omi Wilang. They were joined by  leaders from a 
dozen non-

profit organizations who’d come to lend moral support to  Miaoli farmers.

Lyim said Miaoli County’s KMT government had ordered 2  excavators to destroy 
rice paddies

already ripe with grain and ready for harvest. Though there  remained a lot of 
vacant industrial

land in Dapu Borough that could’ve been used instead, county  officials still 
chose to convert

>arable land into industrial land.

He added that about 80% of local residents strongly opposed  converting more 
farmland into

industrial land, especially when previously acquired land still  lay vacant. In 
light of these facts,

Miaoli Magistrate Liou Jheng-Hong’s public policies were  problematic and 
unjust and he

urged the Control Yuan to take note and call an investigation.

Lyim underscored that farmers standing up for their property  rights was 
biblical because God

gave each person a land to call his own. When people lose their  land, they 
also lose their roots

and a vital part of their identity. Irresponsible exploitation of  agricultural 
lands for industrial

development is tantamount to selling out and destroying a country  originally 
belonging to all

>Taiwanese.

Huang Che-yen reflected that PCT had been raising awareness on the  rights of 
farmers since

the 1980s and had even opened a center in Kaohsiung to reach out  to farmers. 
The

government’s contempt for the rights of farmers was utterly  unacceptable and 
PCT would not

abandon farmers in their fight against government injustices and  unjust 
economic policies.

Omi Wilang added that the recently approved Farm Villages Revival  Act would 
greatly affect

70% of Aborigines who rely on farming for their subsistence. The  act also 
forces Aborigines to

tear down, rebuild, or reshape any landmark authorities might deem  detrimental 
or unsightly

even if it might serve as a vital gathering place for Aborigine  communities.

For more information and mainstream media coverage on this issue,  refer to  
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/07/17/2003478138

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2010/07/21/2003478440

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