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EDITORIAL : Fight for
your rights
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has on several occasions pledged to transform
Taiwan into a “human rights-oriented nation.” However, what transpired in the
streets of Taipei City yesterday was certainly not indicative of government
officials respecting people’s rights.
A crowd gathered to watch in disbelief as police, taking their orders from the
Taipei City Government, barged their way into a 135-year-old two-story building
in Shilin District (士林) belonging to a family named Wang, to evict residents and
make way for an urban renewal project.
People were left wondering what kind of government it is that not only fails to
protect people’s property, but also evicts owners from their ancestral home.
Saying that more than 75 percent of the landowners on the block had agreed to
the terms of the renewal project, the city government yesterday said that
forceful eviction was a last resort and implemented it in line with the Urban
Renewal Act (都市更新條例), adding that in doing so it was merely enforcing the rights
of the majority.
Although “majority rule” is often touted as a democratic practice, whatever
happened to the rights enshrined in the Republic of China Constitution, which
were yesterday trampled on by the city government?
As the excavators banged on the walls of the house, the Wang family’s
82-year-old matriarch allegedly suffered a heart attack and was rushed to
hospital. How is she supposed to take seriously Article 10 of the Constitution,
which states: “The people shall have freedom of residence and of change of
residence”?
About 1,000 police were involved in the eviction, which resulted in broken
windows and damage to furniture. It is unlikely that the Wangs still believe in
Article 15 of the Constitution, which guarantees regular people’s right to own
property.
If the Urban Renewal Act is truly fair and in the public interest as the city
government claims, why have more than 200 complaints against it been filed in
Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市)?
The Wangs’ case shows how government agencies are sometimes reduced to the role
of hired thugs for construction firms when the latter refuse to negotiate any
further with residents and instead ask the city government to evict those who
have refused to sign on the dotted line and have their home demolished.
What happened to the Wangs’ family home is not an isolated incident. Many will
recall how in 2010 the Miaoli County Government, without notifying residents of
Dapu Village (大埔), simply drove excavators onto their land and dug up rice
paddies to make room for a science park expansion project.
The truth is that the current Urban Renewal Act is fatally flawed, as
demonstrated by the suffering of ordinary people.
The Wangs were yesterday forced out of their ancestral home, along with their
ancestors' pai wei (牌位) — a piece of wood on which the names of their ancestors
are inscribed — to become the latest victims of the Urban Renewal Act.
Many more can be expected to join them before the act is amended.
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