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About land, flags and taekwondo in
Taiwan
By Hsu Shih-jung 徐世榮
Last week a rice crop — grown from seeds from Dapu (大埔) in Miaoli County that
were taken to Taipei for a farmers’ protest on July 17 and then planted in
Kaohsiung County’s Meinung Township (美濃) — was harvested, leaving the gigantic
Chinese characters for “land justice” (tudi zhengyi, 土地正義) carved out of the
paddy field like a crop circle. A day earlier, thousands of farmers and their
supporters braved the rain to join hands and demonstrate on the streets of
Taipei, warning that continued expansion of Taiwan’s petrochemical industry was
putting the country in peril. Then, on Wednesday, Taiwanese taekwondo contestant
Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) was unfairly disqualified at the Asian Games, but government
officials provoked a backlash from the public by saying that we should “swallow”
the decision. Those in government would do well to heed the important message
conveyed by these protest movements and outcries, namely that the public has
quite different ideas from the government about Taiwan’s future and the meaning
of “progress.”
In Taiwan, our land is seen by the government only as a factor of production,
whose only value lies in its contribution to GDP. Farmland and wetlands keep
being forcibly turned over for industrial use. This poses a grave threat to the
environment and sustainable development. In addition, land is a very valuable
asset and is seen as a commodity ripe for speculation. The government keeps
removing restrictions on the buying and selling of land, and it takes rising
land prices as a sign of progress. A lot of farmland has been reassigned for
urban construction. The government inflates target population numbers to
designate additional urban development zones.
This is meant to accumulate private capital and alleviate the government’s
financial difficulties. It is also a means by which those in government curry
favor with powerful local factions for whom land speculation is an important
source of profit. Land is not just an economic commodity, but a political one,
too.
Overseas, Taiwan is seen as simply a production base, while those who live here
are apparently entitled to their own national aspirations. Our national prestige
has suffered repeated injuries, but the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) blinds itself to the reality by clinging to the so-called “1992
consensus.” Few occasions remain where it is possible to display the Republic of
China flag, and the name “Taiwan” is heard less and less. Even when
international sporting events are held in Taiwan, we have to restrict ourselves
to the title and symbols of “Chinese Taipei” according to the “Olympic formula.”
Again and again, our national prestige is trampled upon because of China’s
unreasonable demands. The recent spat at the Tokyo International Film Festival
is one example, and now we have been wronged again at the Asian Games. Yet each
time our country’s rights and interests are infringed upon, those in government
expect everyone to swallow the insult. We have been reduced to little more than
scarecrows, with bodies but no souls.
The mode of development that strips people of their rights to property,
subsistence and a healthy environment is a regressive one. A development model
that talks only of economics while avoiding any mention of politics or national
consciousness is very outdated. Progress is not just a matter of economics. It
is even more important to uphold environmental sustainability, social justice
and political rights. Taiwan is not just a base for production. It is our home,
and we rely on this land for our survival. As to the backward mode of national
development that has held sway up to now, we just can’t swallow it anymore.
Hsu Shih-jung is a professor at National Chengchi University’s
Department of Land Economics.
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