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More than 1,000 gather for Miaoli
rally
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter, in MIAOLI
Protesters attend a rally in
front of the Miaoli County Government last night to protest the forced
demolition of private homes in the county’s Dapu Borough.
Photo: Peng Chien-lee, Taipei Times
Protesters throw eggs at a
picture of Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung as part of a mock funeral
held for Liu during a rally held last night in the county’s Dapu Borough to
protest the forced demolition of private homes.
Photo: Peng Chien-lee, Taipei Times
More than 1,000 people from around the
nation yesterday rallied in front of the Miaoli County Government to protest the
forced demolition of private homes in Dapu Borough (大埔) as well as development
projects across the county.
“[Miaoli County Commissioner] Liu Cheng-hung [劉政鴻], step down!” “We, the people
of Miaoli, are ready!” “We will tear down the government today!” the crowd
chanted during the rally, as those affected by the county’s development projects
and activists condemned the county government and the county commissioner.
“I am sorry,” Yeh Min-hui (葉敏慧), a resident of the county’s Houlong Township
(後龍), told the crowd. “I would like to apologize because I am from Houlong, and
Liu is also from Houlong. I am sorry that Houlong raised such a horrible person,
but we’re also very ashamed of him.”
Yeh said that much of the land near the site of the Miaoli high-speed rail
development project has been appropriated by the county government, with many
houses demolished. However, the houses of Liu and his family are still standing.
“If you [Liu] can keep your house, why can’t others keep theirs too?” Yeh asked.
She also panned Liu for saying that people from outside of Miaoli should not
involve themselves in the protests.
“Whether you are from Miaoli or from elsewhere, we are all Taiwanese. We all
love this nation and we will protect it from inappropriate development
projects,” Yeh said.
Li Teng-hsin (黎登鑫), a college professor from Miaoli County’s Sihu Township (西湖),
said Liu was forcibly appropriating farmland.
“Liu always insists that he is acting according to the law, but no law enjoys a
higher status than the Constitution, which protects people’s right to survival,”
Li said. “Farmland is the most important thing on which farmers depend for a
living.”
Liao Pen-chuan (廖本全), an associate professor at National Taipei University’s
Department of Real Estate and Built Environment, said the rally was fully
justified as local and central governments have lost their legitimacy.
“We’re fully justified to protest, because the governments — whether on the
local or central levels — have lost their legitimacy,” Liao said. “We’re fully
justified, because we are defending the rights of all people in Taiwan.”
“We want to tell those in power that the pain of the people, the land and the
environment in Miaoli is the pain of us all,” he said.
The demonstrators also held a mock funeral for Liu, hoping to bid farewell to
the county commissioner.
Despite Miaoli County authorities turning down applications for the rally, more
than 1,000 people still turned out to vent their anger toward the county
government’s forcible demolition of private homes and expropriation of farmland
for development projects.
Unable to stop the rally, the county softened its stance and allowed it to run
until 8pm.
However, the protest lasted to 9:30pm under police surveillance, and afterward,
demonstrators planned small-scale protests at Liu’s residence and other
locations in Taipei and Miaoli.
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