Finding History - A Visit to Alishan

My good friends, Dr. Martin Williams and his wife Edem extended an invitation to us to go with them to Alishan to visit Ms. Kao Chu-hua (高菊花), the 82-year-old daughter of Tsou Tribal leader, Uyongu Yatauyungana (矢多一生/高一生/ Kao Yi-shen) over the weekend. Knowing Kao was the leader who dispatched two regiments of aboriginal young men to assist the Taiwanese in defending the Kuomintang troops in the battle of Chiayi's Shuishang Airport during the February 28th uprising and having researched, while in graduate school, the Kuomintang's methods of control during Taiwan's White Terror Era, I graciously accepted the invitation.

The purpose of the trip was to observe and provide assessment of Mrs. Kao's living environment and make recommendation on the extent to which she should be relocated to a better place.

Historical background

The battle of Shuishang Airport (水上機場) of Chiayi County (嘉義) constituted one of the bloodiest confrontation between the Taiwanese, the aborigines and the Kuomintang troops, subsequent to the initial clash on February 28th, 1947.  Residents of Chiayi formed a militia (義勇軍) to fight off the Nationalist troops.

The reinforcement troops arrived Chiayi a week after the protest.   The troop then shot their way into the village of Liu Cuo Zhuang (劉厝莊) on March 9th, as the rebels often took the path through Liu Cuo Zhuang to get to the Shuishang Airport.  According to Mr. Chen Shui-lien, who is now 92 years old, the Nationalist soldiers would gather some villagers while shooting others, especially the men and taking valuables in the process.  Mr. Chen was hiding in his barn and was shot three times.  

Meanwhile, members of the Chiayi militia contacted the Tsou Tribe, and tribal leaders, Kao Yi-shen (高一生) and Tang Shou-jen (湯守仁) led two regiments of Tsou warriors down the mountain to assist the militia in defending Chiayi.  The Tsou troops returned to Alishan on March 11th, after observing the Nationalist troops and members of the militia seemingly reached a consensus in resolving the conflict.

What ultimately happened in Chiayi, after the return of the Tsou Tribe, was the capture and subsequent execution of members of the Chiayi legislature and negotiation representatives, such as internationally renowned painter, Chen Cheng-po (陳澄波), physician Pan Mu-zhi (潘木枝), former military officer Chen Fu-zhi ( 陳復志) and many others.  

Mrs. Kao standing to the left of her father with
Chiang Ching-Kuo (Photo from NTU History Dept blog)

Kao Yi-shen attempted to make peace with the Nationalist government; however, in September of 1952, Kao was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting communist rebels then executed.  Kao's body was not released to his family until 1954.  After Kao's execution, representative of the government went to Alishan and warned others in the tribe to stop associating themselves with the Kao and Tang family; otherwise, their own families would be in danger.  

The Kao family was shunned through the White Terror Era, and this was the environment Mrs. Kao, the oldest daughter of Kao Yi-shen and mandarin interpreter grew up in.  

Meeting Mrs. Kao Chu-hua (Kikuko Yatauyungana/高菊花)

Mrs. Kao Chu-hua

Mrs. Kao held many jobs in her difficult life, and she is fluent in several languages - the Tsou tribal language, Japanese, Mandarin and some English.  At one point, Mrs. Kao was a professional singer and performed for the Americans on the Seventh Fleet and in various clubs for American GIs.  Singing was not her favorite thing to do, though, but it was the quickest way to make money, according to her.  

She is now involved in a  struggle over family land with her three brothers.  We were told she moved out of the family house last month into a shack the tribal leader (頭目) rents her.  

We left Taipei at around 9am and arrived Mrs. Kao's home at around 2pm.  The house wasn't easy to find, as it is located in the middle of the woods.  If it wasn't for Martin, who is an expert on the backroads of the mountains, we wouldn't have found the place.  

Professional singer

Mrs. Kao's home is a basically a metal shack, held up by very thin sheet metal.  There is an out house with no bathroom inside.  Mrs. Kao told us she has been cleaning herself up in the sink, but her younger sister, who lives in the largest tribal area of Da-Bang, promised they would eventually install a bathroom in the house.  

Mrs. Kao seemed to be relieved now she no longer has to live with her brothers and suffer the stress of land dispute; however, we do think her living environment needs to be improved dramatically, especially when she is living on her own.  

We fear she might fall, as the floor to the shack is uneven, and snacks could enter the house due to the lack of doors.  One fortunate thing was Mrs. Kao has twelve cats, and they do help kill and drive away the snakes.  In addition, it is almost typhoon season, and we fear the sheet metal wouldn't be enough to protest her from the heavy rain and flood.  There is an even graver concern for landslides.  

I was sadden to see her living under such harsh condition and thought she could be relocated to a better living quarter.  The tribe's pastor promised to help, but I wasn't sure how soon Mrs. Kao can be relocated and if she would agree to move yet again.  

I hope I will to have another chance to visit Mrs. Kao again, and I get to have more time to hang out with her and speak to her.  She seems to enjoy having company.  

Ailshan is a beautiful and enchanting place, I must say.  

Heading down to Mrs. Kao's home

Mrs. Kao's house

Outhouse 

  

Martin

Alishan's sunset 

Razing Huaguang - Another round of Demolition

The Taipei Prison in 1945

On June 7th, Ministry of Justice (MOJ) temporarily suspended demolition of HuaguangCommunity (華光社區) pending evaluation of the remains of the Taipei Prison by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government.  The Department's Cultural Assets Review Committee then decided the southern wall of Taipei Prison (台北監獄), the residence of the Director of the Prison (典獄長宿舍), the public bathing house (公共浴場) and twenty additional Japanese-style houses eastward of the public bathing house to be historical sites and should not be demolished.  

The director of the Office of Secretary for the Ministry of Justice Yang Jin-he (楊進合) expressed his disbelief, "Of course we were shocked by the decision, because in 2008, the Ministry of Culture already said that place has no historical values and shouldn't be salvaged".

Although parts of the Huaguang Community have escaped the fate of being razed, other demolition proceeded as schedule.  Yesterday, six more homes were destroyed.  It was a short notice, but I decided to go by to witness the demolition.  

Ms. Feng

As I arrived the small alley leading to the Feng's (馮) home, members of the Student Survey Association of Huaguang were already there, along with the young sister of Mr. Feng, the owner of the house and a few reporters. The Feng family has also lived in the tiny, raggedy house for decades.  Ms. Feng said their application for poverty status was denied by the Social Welfare Department, so they receive no public assistance.  Ms. Feng also told us that her nephew is mentally challenged and her sister-in-law has been suffering from mental illness since they were forced out of their homes.  Her older brother is a taxi driver.  

"He now drives day and night but still can't afford the living expenses of his family", she said, "How are we going to be able to afford the NT$1,1900 monthly rent for public housing and the addition NT$900 maintenance fee the Taipei City government charges us!?  And we could only live at that apartment for the maximum of three years.  Then, we have to be displaced again!"

Ms. Huang and colleague

Ms. Huang (黃) of the Taipei District Court also arrived at the scene shortly after me.  She seemed to be in a much better mood compared with the two previous demolitions I observed, where she was seen berating and hassling the residents to move out and sign the paperworks, while ordering the police to arrest the student protesters. 

As Ms. Huang saw me getting eaten alive by mosquitos and scratching myself like a money, she called out to me, "Hey, you want some bug spray?" 

She handed me the spray and also gave me some minty ointment to apply to my arms and legs, now were full of red bumps of all sizes.  "These people were cooperative", she said in a small voice, "When they received the final the eviction notice from the court, they left".  

A small argument ensued as one of the community residents attempted to take photographs of Ms. Huang and her colleague from the Agency of Correction of MOJ.  Law enforcement was then called to the scene.  

Mrs. Wu

As everyone waited for the machinery to arrive, I circled around the plot onto Hanzhou S. Road, where other houses were also being demolished.  As I walked around the bulldozer, I saw Mrs. Wu, the owner of a small stir-fry restaurant, sitting across the street, with her eyes close and obviously praying.  She looked as if she is in deep distress, wiping her tears several times as she continued to pray.  Her restaurant was demolished in May, and she still owes the government a few million NT dollars for "illegally profiting" off the land for the past 45 years.  

"Ah-yi (Auntie)!" I called out to her, as I ran across the three-lane traffic to get to her, "What are you doing here?"  "Namo Amitabha (Praise Buddha/南無阿彌陀佛)!" she said, "they are destroying everything, taking everything from us". This is the first time I've seen Mrs. Wu looking so depressed, as she has always been the lively and feisty one.

She then started to rant about anything and everything from her current living condition to the stress she suffered over the years due to the constant fear of eviction and the exorbitant amount of fine she now owes the government. Mrs. Wu exclaimed, "I paid my water bill, gas bill, electric bill for the past 45 years, and I paid taxes. I have a door number, and we received mail at the restaurant, so how is that that we were there illegally? I'm going to take to the streets every chance I get now. I really have nothing else t lose".

I bid farewell to Mrs. Wu and got to the Feng's house in time to see the demolition. As the Feng's home was being raze to the ground, I moved toward other demolition sites, where Mr. Chao's (趙) carwash and detailing service and Mr. Wu's tailor (吳) store were also being demolished. Mr. Chao sat on a small stool across the business and home he resided for decades observing the demolition crew. He moved out a few days prior but was seen going back to his old home almost everyday, just standing and pondering.

I left the sounds of heavy machinery behind soon after to continue with the rest of my day.
At the Two Covenants Evaluation hearing yesterday (兩公約結論性意見審查會議), on the

controversy surrounding the Huaguang Community, it was decided that the Ministry of Interior would include the demands of the residents on its meeting agenda and request the involving government agencies to send representatives to yet another conference to resolve the respected issues, a conclusion the residents and advocates considered as merely tactics to prevent further protests.

Hearing (Photo by 施逸翔)

Lastly, I recently read in an article critical of the Kuomintang's policy toward China. While suggesting the Taiwanese should demand a KMT Taiwan Policy, the author argued the civil society in Taiwan can play a significant role but then suggested the demonstrators against media mergers (The Anti-Media Monopoly Movement is not only about against certain media mergers) and the advocates of Huaguang Community to somehow "elevate" their protests to "questions about cross-strait policies and the future of Taiwan".

This interpretation of both movements is an erroneous one. Both movements should not be considered as merely domestic without cross-strait, international implications. One of the permanent slogans of the Anti-Media Monopoly movement was "Reject China's Blackhand (拒絕中國黑手). The members of the Youth Alliance Against Media Monsters consistently contended that the reason for their activism is to safeguard Taiwan's freedom of speech and press, "because we are free right now, and we have democracy. We also don't want to return to authoritarianism and experience what our parents have experienced". (Excerpt from an interview with a PhD student from Soochow University, January 4th, 2013).

For Huaguang, the government is seeking to raze the plot to make space for a glitzy, posh, clubbing and shopping district resembles Tokyo's Roppongi district, aiming to please tourists, namely from China. As the protesters and residents of Huaguang often said at demonstrations, Taiwan's government should never behave as the government of China, as Taiwan is a democracy. One Huaguang resident even used the similarity of pronunciation of "China" with the verb "Tearing down (拆啦!)" to urge the government not to destroy her house on March 27th (I've written in greater detail on the government's plan in my other entries on the Huaguang community).

I look forward to examining the Executive Yuan's altered plan for the Huaguang Community, now that parts of the plot is protected.

The Feng's house

Mrs. Wu praying 

 

Mr. Wu, whose tailor shop was demolished on June 26th.

Mr. Chao watched as the demolition crew worked to raze his carwash business 

Government workers waiting for the demolition to finish

Additional observations and thoughts on the Trip to Yuanli Township

The coastline of Xi Ping Li (西平里), Yuanli Township (苑裡鎮), Miaoli County (苗栗縣)

Here are some additional observation and thoughts to our feature article in the Taipei Times, as there was space restriction to a newspaper article.

The reason for my venture to Yuanli Township was two-fold: 1) In the past few months, I saw quite a few protests in Yuanli and in Taipei against wind turbines.  As an observer of the Anti-Nuclear Power movement in Taiwan, I was curious; 2) This is a movement where I found most of the student leaders are from the National Taiwan University, my host institution in Taiwan.  

Some updates

As one walks on the embankment in Fang Li Li (房裡里) in Yuanli Township (苑裡) of Miaoli County(苗栗縣), one can now see No.26 of the InfraVest wind turbine, erected just two days ago.  This was the very first of the six wind turbines InfraVest Wind Power Co. planned to build in Yuanli Township during Phase One of its construction.  Of the 2km coastline of Yuanli, InfraVest Wind Power Co. plans to erect 14 wind turbines.  

Township residents and students have been protesting at the construction site since the beginning of construction.  With the past week being the most physical and confrontational.  Most protesters have been arrested more than once.  Some are facing lawsuits from the wind power company and will have to go to court to answer their criminal charges.  Yet, they persist.  

The township residents and students I spoke to said that they are supportive of green energy, and in this case, wind power energy, as many of their pamphlets and press conferences have iterated.  Interestingly, all the students who are currently residing in Yuanli are also involved with the Anti-Nuclear Energy Movement.  The residents pointed to the nearby Tunghsiau Fire-Powered Power Plant and articulated the importance of having clean, renewable way to generate energy. 

"We've seen what the fire-powered power plant did to the environment", said the 60-year-old farmer A-Bei in a green tank top, "We don't want those, but I'm also afraid these wind turbines are going to be so close to my house and farm".  

As one approaches the construction site, a banner with "Support construction of wind turbines, Reject Pro-Nuclear Energy activists (支持風車興建, 抗議擁核打手)" is ostentatiously secured to one of the fences.  I find the banner confusing as it provides no explanation as to how the company concludes the objection to wind turbines in Yuanli equals support for nuclear power and the protesters are in fact nuclear energy supporters.  

A security guard quickly approached us, as we exited the taxi, and held up a placard that says "Moving toward non-nuclear, Taiwan needs green energy substitution (邁向非核, 台灣需要代替綠能)".  At first, I thought the placard was redundant, as most members of the resistance movement support this same policy.  Then, I quickly realized there was an attempt to differentiate the company, as the representative of green energy verses the protesters, as supporters of nuclear power.

I was then surrounded by a few InfraVest employees counter-protesting with other colorful placards with messages ranging from asking the Yuanli Self-Help Group president to return the money he allegedly illegally profited from having his art studio on government land, to condemnation of violence, to urging the residents and students to not be used by the Self-help organization president.  

It happened that the Vice President of InfraVest, Ms. Wang Yun-yi, was on site monitoring the construction of turbine No.26, so I chatted with her for a while.  

"It would making me very happy if this is the last time I have to explain myself", she told me.

She explained her company's endeavor to build wind turbines along the west coast of Taiwan, and that they passed the Environmental Protection Agency's evaluation and received permission to build.  She was upset that, according to her, after all the concession she made, the residents now refused to let the company build a single turbine.  It was my understanding the company would proceed with construction with help from the local police and its own security personnel.  Instead of the original six, the company would build only four.  

Institutional incompetence

Yuanli residents and supporters
protestin front of EPA

The violent physical confrontation in the past week and InfraVest's insistence to erect wind turbines in Yuanli did not come as a surprise.  

The consequence of not proceeding with the project could cost the company everything, as projects like the one that span from Chunan to Yuanli requires tremendous capital and financing from banks.  Every day InfraVest falls behind schedule or unable to build, it cost money, a lot of money.  The unconfirmed figure is between NT$500,000 to NT$1,000,000 per day.  

The frustration from the company executives is certainly understandable.  To the company, it already submitted the necessary paperwork and retained permission from the government.  The company is legally to build but is unable to.  The company also hoped for local politicians to act as arbitrators; however, after repeated failure to reach consensus, local politicians are also not touching the controversy with a ten-foot pole.  The company is now left to resolve the problem on its own.  

Protest at the Executive Yuan

A business's desire for profit is natural.  As InfraVest states on the company's website, "Investment in wind energy should bring forth profit.  This is necessary for a sustainable development of renewable energies, a distinct goal of many governments".  If green energy brings profit while protecting the environment, then the situation would be ideal for all.

It is up to government agency, the Environmental Protect Agency(EPA) in this case, to maintain standard and to determine which business or company is best for Taiwan's environment and citizens.  It is the EPA's responsibility to investigate and to determine if InfraVest did indeed manipulate statistics and survey, as the residents of Yuanli alleged, and reject such evaluation if necessary.  

The fact is, as Mr. Wang told me, InfraVest received no rejected until June 3rd, when the EPA rejected the company's second Difference in Environmental Impact (DEI) evaluation and the company's proposal to erect 29 wind turbines in Taoyuan County.  The reason: there were discrepencies in InfraVest's paperwork.   

Li Ah-Ma outside of her home

Unfortunately, the case of Yuanli is not the 
first time the Environmental Protection Agency demonstrated its incompetence.  If there were discrepancies, then why did the EPA not discover them until the second round of DEI?  One can also reference the Miramar Hotel resort(美麗灣) in Taitung and the Yoho Beach Resort (悠活麗緻度假村) within the Kenting National Park.  It wasn't until after the discovery that the Yoho Beach Resort has been operating in the past 14 years without EPA approval that the EPA announced it would launch nationwide inspection of developmental projects.

For Yuanli township, the EPA did grant InfraVest permission to build.  Even though the lawyer hired by the Yuanli Self-help Organization filed suit for the EPA to revoke InfraVest's evaluation approval, the suit will take time and there isn't any order for InfraVest to halt construction in the meantime.  

The Self-help Organization requested InfraVest to stop construction pending negotiation with the residents and suit.  The request was rejected by the company.  In all, the trust between two sides has deteriorated to the point that my fear is no consensus can be reached at this point.  

Overzealous Security

As the wind power company became more press for time to complete their project, and after the Miaoli Police was reprimanded for not following protocol, InfraVest hired a group of men to guard its construction site.  One of the things I experienced immediately when arriving Yuani, other than the scorching sun, was company security hovering and attempting to drive anyone and everyone from the beach. 

As I walked on the embankment, a public road, four or five security guards followed me or lingered close by.  And, as I was chatted with Ms. Wang, the Vice President of InfraVest, one security guard shoved a camera in my face to film me.  

The guy with all the questions

It should be fairly obvious that I am neither a protester or a resident, yet the attempt to intimidate persisted.  Security guards stood in my path, blocking my access to the beach, watching my every move.  Not only that, they also attempted to question who I was, twice.  However, when I asked them what was going on in return, I was given "How would I know?" as an answer.

Chain-smoking

Permitting such behavior from company security guards, regardless the legality of construction, does nothing but to escalate tension between the employees and the township residents.  It also does nothing to help the company's ultimate goal, if it is truly to promote green energy and provide an alternative to nuclear and fire power. Whether the hiring of these thuggish security guard is due to company executives feeling there is no other option in dealing with the residents, Ms. Wang did not say.  

Tension came to a clash on June 8th, when a group of 20 to 30 guards attempted to forcibly remove the protesters.  Some guards were observed kicking students while they were down on the ground.  Since then, there are clashes every day, sometimes multiple times a day.  It's taxing for all parties involved.

Battle continues

The protest goes on in Yuanli township with the police becoming increasingly aggressive in removing protesters from seaside.  InfraVest held yet another negotiation meeting last weekend that went nowhere, as the company maintained its bottom line and position of erecting four wind turbines and that there is no distance regulations worldwide, including in Taiwan.  The company also declares that the instigators should bear all responsibility if the latest negotiation fails.  

I wonder how the story of Yuanli will end.  Maybe there still is a chance for reconciliation and consensus between the residents and the wind power company.  Maybe the wind turbines will be erected with the police, protesters and company security guards going through the same routine of blocking, removing, arresting, releasing everyday.  We'll see.  

I do maintain, however, as we said in the Times article, the case of Yuanli could serve as a platform for open discussion on what kind of renewable energy method is best suited for Taiwan.  Maybe it's wind power, as the American technician told us on site - Taiwan is a great place with lots of wind all year round.  If so, which kind of wind power machine is best for Taiwan's limited land.  

When one follows the timeline of the Yuanli controversy, it is not difficult to see there were several critical junctures that the dispute could have been resolved, but opportunities were missed and trust is now broken.  In the end, my feeling is the Yuanli controversy hurts all parties involved, except the central government.  As a social scientist, it's an incredible privilege to be able to get so close to the players of this case, to listen to stories from all sides and to record them.

(Photos by author, 陳三郎 and 許哲韡)