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Wu, Jiang rebuff Dapu
criticism
DAPU DITHER: The Presidential Office said the
president has been paying close attention to the incident and he expects
government agencies to find a solution
By Mo Yan-chih and Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporters
Premier Jiang Yi-huah talks to
the media in Greater Tainan yesterday about the handling of disputes over the
demolition of four houses in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough.
Photo: CNA
Both Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and
Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday dismissed criticism of the government’s
policy flip-flop on the dispute over the demolition of four houses in Miaoli
County’s Dapu Borough (大埔), with Jiang also playing down concerns about the
Presidential Office taking over the resolution of the dispute.
Wu, who in 2010 was premier and promised to preserve the four houses, on Tuesday
discussed the issue with Jiang and asked him to negotiate with Miaoli County
Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻).
Seeking to dismiss accusations that he had failed to keep his promise, Wu
stepped up his efforts and called a meeting with Jiang and Liu yesterday
afternoon at the Presidential Office to resolve the dispute.
Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) said President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) has been paying close attention to the development of the Dapu incident
and that he expects the relevant government agencies to find a solution to the
case.
Wu yesterday said the government would demonstrate its sincerity in addressing
the issue, while stressing that the meeting three years ago with Liu and Jiang,
then the minister of the interior, had concluded that the four houses should not
be demolished.
“We expect all parties to resolve the issue with sincerity. On the other hand,
we will respect the county government’s authority in handling the incident,” the
vice president said.
Wu’s comments came amid Liu’s insistence on the forceful demolition of the
houses to make way for a science park project. Liu and the county government
have largely ignored protesters’ demands that the houses be saved.
Jiang yesterday confirmed that he had talked with Ma and Wu by telephone on
Thursday and said Ma authorized Wu to preside over the negotiation.
“The Executive Yuan is happy to have the vice president share his experience in
handling the issue. We believe we can find a solution to the dispute,” Jiang
said.
Jiang denied that he had been forced by Wu to change his position on the matter.
Since Thursday last week, Dapu residents and activists have brought attention to
yesterday’s deadline set by the county government for the demolition of four
houses in the borough.
After presenting an appeal demanding that Wu honor a promise he made in 2010 to
save the four houses and failing to receive a positive response from the
Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office, the protesters began a sit-in
outside the front gates of the Executive Yuan on Tuesday and clashed with police
on Thursday.
The Executive Yuan remained silent on the issue until Tuesday, when spokesperson
Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said the four houses were to be dismantled by the Miaoli
County Government because they did not meet the four conditions for preservation
— that they should not compromise the flow of traffic, public safety, equality
or rationality in urban planning.
On Wednesday, Jiang reaffirmed what Cheng had said, adding that what had seemed
to the Dapu residents to be a promise by Wu to preserve their houses was
contingent on the four conditions, except that the four conditions were not
listed in the minutes of the meeting in 2010.
Jiang said that the Executive Yuan told the Miaoli County Government that it
should go ahead with the decision made at a meeting on April 24 last year by the
Ministry of the Interior’s City Planning Commission that favored the county
government’s plan to demolish the houses.
While denying the Executive Yuan flip-flopped on the issue, Jiang’s denial
contrasted with what Cheng said on Tuesday and his own remarks on Wednesday.
Local media reports said that Jiang has been slapped in the face yet again by
the Presidential Office.
About a month ago he also experienced a similar putdown when Ma demanded that
the Executive Yuan invoke the right to reconsider a controversial amendment to
Accounting Act (會計法) passed by the legislature.
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