Global Voices » I-fan Lin

Taiwan: 2012 Election Sets Example for Mainland Chinese Democratization

I-fan Lin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:32:22 +0000

Taiwan's presidential and legislative election was held on January 14, 2012. Incumbent Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) was reelected as President with 51.6% of the vote. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) challenger Tsai Ing-wen resigned her post as chairperson of the DPP following her election defeat.

Chinese communities around the world were closely watching the results, as Taiwan is the first among the Chinese societies to transition from authoritarian to democratic governance. Many people from mainland China and Hong Kong travelled to Taiwan to observe the political process; they wonder if Taiwan can set an example for the future democratization in mainland China.

Beijing based journalist Mark MacKinnon was surprised by Taiwanese enthusiasm for politics:

As a Beijing correspondent, it's so weird to see and hear people talking and shouting - in Chinese - about politics.

Based on the website of the Central Election Commission, 74.38% of eligible voters casted their votes in 2012. Ma Ying-jeou won reelection with 51.60% of the total votes cast, and Tsai Ing-wen gathered 45.63%.

Taiwan sovereignty

Different from the previous election, the usual Blue (KMT) and Green (DDP) antagonism seems absent, yet Taiwanese sovereignty remains the most critical issue. Karlatheo expressed [zh] expressed her concern after the election:

1月14日，平靜地去投票。與朋友相聚。其實大家並不特別在意哪一黨得勝，但是很在意台灣的主體性是否會失落。…知道中國的因素主宰著這次的選舉，經濟的問題是所有的人都得面對的。…馬總統，請記得您是我們僕人

On Jan[uary] 14, I went to vote peacefully. Then I gathered with friends. We do not care which party won the election, but we do care about whether Taiwan’s sovereign will be kept…We knew the issue of China dominated this election, and everyone needs to face the economic problems… President Ma, please remember you are our servant.

Nathan Batto was also worried about the future of the Taiwan-China relationship after the election:

With a sizeable 70-43 majority in the legislature, Ma Ying-jeou is not going to immediately become a lame duck president. Instead, he probably has enough power to do most of what he wants. He will almost certainly have the power to implement the next stage of ECFA, and it is not out of the question that he could push through the peace agreement that he mentioned during the campaign.

Researcher fellow at the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, Dean Cheng, pointed out:

A strong Taiwan, confident in its relationship with the U.S., is key to peace and security in the region. In the weeks before Taiwan’s election, the U.S. Administration suddenly dispatched several senior officials to Taiwan. As it has been almost 12 years since a visit from a sitting U.S. cabinet member, the re-election of President Ma would seem to present an opportunity to demonstrate that this lack of attention has come to an end.

Example for mainland China

Those who could not fly to Taiwan to observe the election watched the news closely. Lele is from China [zh], but she has observed Taiwanese elections for more than a decade:

尽管不是长在台湾生在台湾，也不是亲哪个党派的政治狂热分子，但台湾四年一次的总统大选开票直播，我一定会观看。这已是第四次看到台湾总统大选了。…台湾民主大选制度逐渐走向成熟，不知大陆何时也能向台湾一样走上这一条路？大陆老百姓也有选举国家领导人的权利？

I was not born and have never lived in Taiwan. I am not political fanatic for any party, but I always watch the live broadcast of the election in Taiwan every four years. This is my fourth time watching it… The election system in Taiwan has become mature. When will China step onto the same road as Taiwan? When will Chinese have the right to vote for our leaders.

@darkillzhou [zh] (on Weibo) from China made jokes about the mainland Chinese election when talking to his Taiwanese friend:

刚一台湾朋友结束聊天时对我说，“明天早上我們要去投票了﹐晚上就知道總統是誰了”，我顿时不知如何答复。虽然我们之间的交流没有任何障碍，但在他面前真觉得无地自容。我只好说，“你们太落后了，我们如果明天早上投票的话，今天晚上就知道谁会当选了。。。”

My Taiwanese friend just told me they will go to vote for their president tomorrow morning, and they will know who wins the presidential election by the evening. Suddenly I did not know how to respond. Although our communication was smooth, I felt very ashamed. At the end, I said, ‘You Taiwanese are not efficient. If we mainland Chinese go to vote tomorrow morning, we would know who win the election tonight…’

In Hong Kong, columnist 練乙錚 (Lian Yi-Zheng) talked about [zh] how this election may change the future of China:

台灣的故事，如果只看到七八十年代，那是和大陸到目前為止差不多的，但到了八十年代，故事出現政治拐點，五千年文明古國民主化了。其後發展，大家清楚，要點是：台灣經驗是一個近乎完整的立國經驗。政治上，從極權到民主、從專制到自由；經濟上，從落後到富足，從漁農到包含大量高科技。
台灣在國際上沒有話語權，在全球華人當中的政治比重也很低，但一個內容豐富的「台灣論述」正在積聚力量，吸引着全世界大小角落裏正在徬徨焦慮地尋找精神家園的華人；這次到台灣觀選的陸人港客，便是這個論述的吸收者、傳播者。

What has happened in Taiwan is similar to that in China, if we only look at Taiwan’s history before 1980. In the 1980s, there was a turning point in their politics. Building upon the 5,000-year-old culture, the country became democratic. All of us know the following story: the so-called ‘Taiwan experience’ is similar to an experience of founding a state. Politically, they became democratic after totalitarianism, and now they enjoy freedom after autocracy. Economically, they became wealthy from [being] an undeveloped country, and they have developed hi-tech industry in addition to fishery and agriculture.
Taiwan can hardly speak out on the international stage. On the political stage of Chinese society all over the world, Taiwanese only play a small role. However, the ‘Taiwan proposal’ with a rich content is gaining its energy. This proposal attracts Chinese people all over the world who are anxious to find their spiritual homeland. This time, those people from Hong Kong and mainland China who went to Taiwan to observe this election will absorb this experience and spread it.

In China, 水木丁 pointed out [zh] it is an opportunity for people in China to reflect why they do not think democracy is a choice for China:

我看蔡英文的演讲时，一直在想这个问题，不知道那些持如此论调的人，看到这一场总统选举，会有什么样的说辞，所以美国人英国人可以讲民主，我们不配讲民主？所以连一衣带水的台湾人都可以讲民主，我们不配讲民主吗？全世界都素质高，只有我们素质低，不配讲民主吗？
我看到台湾大选的井然有序，内心感慨，因为我知道这些和我们一样的黄皮肤黑眼睛的同胞们正在学习，他们也曾选错人，也曾走过弯路，发生过闹剧，陷入过绝望，但是他们还是继续选择了这条路，不问自己配不配。我看到他们站在大雨中，胜利的人们和失败的人们，因为有信念，知道自己想要一个怎样的世界，所以也就有希望。我突然想到这个配不配的问题，这世界上貌似没有那个国家的人民，是要先证明自己配民主和自由，才被施舍民主和自由的，想到此岸的人们竟然要怀疑自己到底配不配，这真是羞辱。民主的确是要慢慢来，但绝对不是从证明自己配不配开始。

When I watched Tsai Ing-Wen’s talk, I kept thinking about this question: I do not know what those people will say about this election. Americans and British people can talk about democracy, but we are not qualified for talking about democracy, are we? Now Taiwanese can talk about democracy on the other side of the strait, but we still cannot talk about democracy. Is it true that the people outside of China have higher quality and we do not? Is this why we are not qualified for talking about democracy?
I have some reflections when I saw the election in Taiwan held smoothly. I know these people with yellow skin and black eyes, who look like us, are learning. They had chosen the wrong person. They had taken the detour. There had been a farce. No matter what has happened, they continue walking on the way they choose. They do not ask if they are qualified. I saw them standing in the rain, the supporters of the winning party and the supporters of the losing party. They have their beliefs. They know what kind of world they want. Therefore they have hope. Suddenly I thought about the question of qualification. No citizen in any country in the world is given out democracy and freedom after they prove that they are qualified for democracy and freedom. Thinking about the doubts about our qualification that many of us have, I feel humiliated. Democracy should be realized step by step, but the process should never start with proving us qualified for it.

Encouraged by the observers in Hong Kong, mainland China, and other parts of the world old cat believes [zh] the Taiwanese should be strong and help the democracy movement in China:

在這一次大選中，許多同胞憂慮中國透過讓利、市場力量，軟性影響台灣的選舉，而選前大批企業老闆公開支持九二共識，被視為中國影響的證明。這些憂慮當然很合理，但我們只能單向憂慮嗎？我們不能反向送出我們的魅力嗎？
這是台灣的機會…如果台灣對中國的民主化有貢獻，未來我們才有機會贏得十三億人的同理認同…台灣雖小，卻占有舉足輕重的位置，我們不應該再用逃離中國的心態思考未來。
無論幸或不幸，我們就是站在這個奇異的歷史高點上了，華人的民主典範，也許不是我們設定的目標，但卻是我們實實在在擁有的力量。
不應該辜負這樣的力量。

In this election, many Taiwanese worried about the influence of China on our election through their economic power. Before the election, many heads of big Taiwanese companies supported the so called 1992 consensus in the public. Their actions are considered as the influence of China. These worries are very reasonable. However, are we only able to worry about China? Aren’t we able to attract their eye?
This is an opportunity for Taiwan… If Taiwan contributes to the democratization in China, we may earn the heart of the 13 hundred million people in China… Taiwan is small, but we stand on an important position. We should stop evading China when we plan our future.
No matter if it is lucky or not, we are at the magic point in the history. Being a model of democracy in the Chinese society may not be our goal, but this is the power in our hand.
We should not waste this power.

Taiwan: Nuclear Waste on Orchid Island

I-fan Lin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:33:44 +0000

Nuclear waste is the material that nuclear fuel becomes after it is used in a reactor. It is dangerously radioactive and remains so for thousands of years.

Four years after the first Taiwanese nuclear power plant was built in 1970, the Taiwan Atomic Energy Council decided to dump its nuclear waste at Orchid Island (Lanyu), where the indigenous Tao people (Yami) have lived for generations. More than twenty years have passed, the radioactive waste barrels have eroded with rust and it seems that no one is ready to take care of the problem.

Birds eye view of Orchid Island, Taiwan. Photo taken by Flickr user bambicrow (CC BY-NC 2.0)

There are two nuclear waste storage sites [zh] on Orchid Island. Every week, boats from Taiwan bring the radioactive waste to Orchid Island dumping 45,000 barrels of waste on the beautiful island annually.

These nuclear waste storage sites have changed the fate of Tao people forever. In a campaign page [zh] on the public television website, Tao people demanded that the government return a peaceful childhood to their children:

民國六十九年核廢料從台灣漂洋過海到蘭嶼，從此以後，伴隨著蘭嶼小朋友長大的，除了飛魚、迷你豬，還有核廢料桶。

Since nuclear waste was sent to Orchid Island from Taiwan by boat in 1980, the children of Orchid Island have grown up with flying fish, mini pigs - and barrels of nuclear waste.

According to an in-depth report [zh] Tao people were ignorant of the construction of nuclear waste site:

當年貯存場地施工的時候，鄉民根本不知道是在建核廢料貯存場。當時的鄉長江瓦斯甚至不懂中文！少數鄉民聽施工的人說是正在蓋「罐頭工廠」，今天運送廢料的專用碼頭被說成某種軍事用途的港口……。

While it was under construction [in 1979], none of us knew it is for nuclear waste storage. At that time our village chief could not even understand Chinese. Construction workers told some of the villagers that they were building a “Can Food Factory” while the pier for landing nuclear waste was said to be a military harbor…

When the Tao people finally learned the danger of nuclear waste in 1987, they began to protest against the nuclear waste and the battle has been going for more than 20 years. In 1995, they announced the “Declaration of expelling the nuclear waste demons” [zh]:

雅美族，全球只有三千人，一個吟詩的民族，一個和平的民族，我們不願意再以我們族人的血肉之軀去作為台電核能人體實驗的對象。

Tao people are an ethnic group with only 3000 population in the whole world. We are poets. We believe in peace. We can no longer accept the Taiwan Power Company treating our bodies like guinea pigs.

Below is an excerpt of a documentary ‘The borderland‘ [zh]. It shows the life and culture of Tao people on Orchid Island and this video clip from 1:20 to 2:58 shows some precious historical photos about Tao people's protest against the nuclear waste storage sites in 1987:

On December 31 2002, Tao people managed to terminate the contract with the Taiwan Power Company. However, the Taiwanese government has no plan to remove the nuclear waste from the Island. The next round of battle for Tao people since then has been to press the government to solve the waste problem.

Below is special coverage of the nuclear waste problem in Orchid Island. The reporter interviewed the environmentalists, government and protesters, but not a single party could provide a viable solution to the problem:

In 2008, 26 years after the first barrel of nuclear waste was stored on Orchid Island, the government finally took action to conduct a thorough security inspection of these nuclear waste barrels. According to a local news report reposted in the Orchid Island e-news website [zh], the result was worrisome. The inspectors assigned by the Taiwan Atomic Energy Council found out that:

首座開蓋檢整的壕溝貯放的四千多桶核廢料全部鏽蝕，部分廢料桶甚至已開膛剖肚。

All 4000+ barrels in the first inspection were eroded by rust. Some of the barrels have been eroded to the extent that there are big cracks cutting across the iron shells.

核廢料桶禁不起蘭嶼高溫潮濕和高鹽分的惡劣環境，八十一年起陸續出現鏽蝕。

Since 1992, these nuclear waste barrels have been eroded by the high temperature, high humidity, and high salinity environment of Orchid Island.

Who should take care of the nuclear waste? Who should be responsible for the nuclear waste? Where should the nuclear waste go? Blogger Annpo pointed out [zh] that the problem of nuclear waste cannot be neglected in the review of energy policy in Taiwan, in addition to the safety of nuclear power plants [zh]:

當年，國家發展重工業，需要大量電力，今日國家依然要大力發展，生產更多需要被消化被解決的問題，發展之後留下的都是「債」。債，誰要還？誰來還？要不，根據用電統計，用電量最多的地區，作為核廢料掩埋場，好不？支持興建核電的，一人抱一桶回家，好不？

In the past, our country had high-energy demand for the development of heavy industry. Today our country still wants to continue this developmental path which will generate more problems that need to be solved some day in the future. There is always ‘debt’ left behind after development. Who will pay for the debt? Should we decide according to the energy consumption rate and ask that the area where people consume most electricity become the new nuclear waste storage site? And ask that those who support the nuclear power plants take home one barrel with them?

Taiwan: Anti-Nuclear Protesters' Lonely Quest

I-fan Lin — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:54:13 +0000

A fourth nuclear power plant is currently under construction in Taiwan, in Gongliao town, just 40 km away from the capital Taipei.

In 1988, eight years after the Taiwan Power Company first decided to build the plant, locals in Gongliao held the first meeting of what became their anti-nuclear organization. In 1994, they even held their own referendum [zh], which revealed that 96% of locals were opposed to the plant's construction.

Nevertheless, the government disregarded such opinions and took steps to suppress these voices.

A protest against Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant in 2010. Image by Alvin Chua (CC BY 2.0).

In 1991 [zh], after protesters put up structures on land planned for the future nuclear power plant, police tried to tear down them down.

10月3日，因警方違反協議拆除棚架並毆打自救會會長引爆激烈衝突，衝進圍籬的箱型車因撞到柱子翻倒而意外壓死一名保警，史稱1003事件。郝柏村內閣趁勢聯合媒體抹黑自救會和支持反核者，開車的反核義工林順源被判無期徒刑、自救會執行長高清南被判十年徒刑。

On October 3rd [1991], there was a serious clash after police violated the previous agreement and tore down the shelves, and hit the president of the anti-nuke [nuclear] organization. A policeman was accidentally killed after one driver hit a pillar and flipped the car. This was later named the 1003 incident. After the accident, the local government instigated media to discredit the anti-nuke organization and their supporters. That driver, Shun-Yuan Lin (林順源), who was a volunteer for the anti-nuke organization, was declared guilty and given a life sentence. In addition, the CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of the organization, Ching-Nan Gao (高清南) was sentenced to ten years in prison.

In 1999, after the Atomic Energy Council approved the license for construction of the fourth nuclear power plant, the government revoked the fishery rights [zh] of locals in Gongliao without notice. Locals refused the compensation [zh] offered by the government and went to the Executive Yuan to protest against this decision.

憤怒的漁民把經濟部逕自撥給漁會的兩億多元補償金支票立刻退回，集結到立法院門前高喊：「還我漁業權！」「我們要給子孫代代吃，不是要給我們吃而已！」

After the Ministry of Economic Affairs sent compensation checks to local fishing organization, angry fishermen sent the NT$ [New Taiwan Dollar] 200 million (US$ 6.78 million) check back. They gathered in front of the Legislative Yuan and yelled, ‘Give our fishery rights back!’ ‘We demand that our future generations, not only ourselves, will have something to eat.’

In 2000, these anti-nuclear activists rode a rollercoaster after the Democratic Progressive Party candidate took office. The ruling party decided to suspend the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant. However, because political conflict [zh] between the ruling party and the opposition party could not be resolved, the ‘cancellation’ itself was voided in 2001:

亞洲金融風暴的後座力到2001年在台爆發，佔立法院多數席次的國民黨把經濟衰退的帳「理所當然」地推給核四停建，民進黨則反手把黑鍋推給貢寮鄉民。

Taiwan’s economy was influenced by the Asian financial crisis in 2001. The Kuomingtang, the majority party in the Legislative Yuan, claimed the suspension of the fourth nuclear power plant should ‘reasonably’ be responsible for the economy problems. On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party claimed the residents in Gongliao should take the responsibility for the suspension of the power plant.

After more than 20 years of protests against the nuclear power plant, construction has resumed, leaving locals to deal with their own fear without hope [zh]:

「看核電廠距離我家那麼近，當然馬ㄟ驚啊！」坐在澳底仁和宮前看年輕人表演的貢寮老人嘆氣說，但都快要蓋好了，你能拿政府怎麼辦？

The elder sat in front of the temple in Aodi and watched the performance of some young people (from NONUKE). He sighed, ‘Of course I am scared that the nuclear power plant is so close to my home.’ However, the construction is about to finish. What can you do with the government?

In Japan, there are also some lonely protesters opposed to nuclear power plants there. The residents (less than 500) in Iwaishima (祝島) [zh] have protested against the local nuclear power plant for more than 28 years:

儘管平均年齡已65歲，這群阿伯阿母、阿公阿嬤仍不放棄對抗蠻橫的國家機器，「我們不想千年流傳下來的海被污染」。

Although the average of age of these protesters is over 65, these elders have not given up the protest against their outrageous government. They say, ‘The sea has been handed down by our ancestors for thousands of years. We do not want to see it polluted.’

Protest against the fourth nuclear power plant in 2010. Image by Alvin Chua (CC BY 2.0).

After the greatest earthquake in the recorded history of Japan took place this month, there was worry over the type of fuel used in reactor unit 3 of the country's damaged Fukushima I nuclear power plant:

Largely absent from most mainstream media reports on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is the fact that a highly-dangerous ‘mixed-oxide' (MOX) fuel is present in six percent of the fuel rods at the plant's Unit 3 reactor.

However, not many people know that six months ago a concern group [jp] formed by Japanese elders (福島老朽原発を考える会) for the Fukushima I nuclear power plant traveled all the way to Tokyo to protest against the Tokyo Electricity Power Company and the use of MOX fuels:

運転開始34年の老朽炉に10年以上前の古い燃料を使うという無茶をするのに、県民への説明は一切なしというのはどういうことか。

They are pushing it far by using old fuel from ten years ago, in a 34-year-old aging reactor, and there no explanation given to the residents of the Prefecture. What is this all about?

止まらぬ燃料漏えいへの対処、電源喪失事故の原因究明、格納容器の耐震強度問題等々、危険なプルサーマルの前に東電には対処すべきことが山積している。東電にプルサーマル炉の運転を任せることなどとてもできない。

Finding a way to stop the continuous fuel leakage, investigating the cause of the power loss incident, solving the issues regarding the earthquake-resistance strength of the containment vessel, etc, the Tokyo Electric Power Company has tons of things to deal with before implementing the plutonium-thermal reactor. It is outrageous to even allow TEPCO to operate a plutonium-thermal reactor.

Roodo blogger Summerlake, after seeing the photos [zh] of the elders' protest in Tokyo, said:

孤單的幾個人站在熱鬧的街頭上，顯得突兀，沒有媒體願意傾聽，沒有社會大眾願意相信，他們微弱而真實的聲音。貢寮鄉親在台北城街頭的身影，突然那麼令人難過。大家在哪裡？

The lonely protesters were standing on the busy streets. They looked so odd in the city. There were no media listening to them. No one willing to believe in their weak but sincere voices. The images of the residents from Gongliao standing on the streets in Taipei city suddenly made me very sad. Where are the other people?

Acknowledgment: Thanks Hanako Tokita for the Japanese-English translation.

Taiwan: Call for Energy Policy Review

I-fan Lin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:43:31 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011 and Global Development 2011.

The ongoing Fukushima nuclear power plant incident in Japan has alerted people in Taiwan about the safety of nuclear power plants in their own country.

In order to transform current concern into long term government policy, many netizens are demanding the Taiwanese government conduct a comprehensive review on the country's energy and industrial policy.

Policy paradox

Anti-nuclear rally in Taiwan capital, Taipei on March 20, 2011. Image by Flickr user KarlMarx (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

On February 14, 2011, approximately one month before the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration held a public hearing in which the Bureau of Energy laid out the nation’s energy policy from 2011-2020.

However, environmental groups found the new energy policy violated the consensus [zh] formulated in the “Sustainable Energy Development Guidelines” (永續能源政策綱領) [zh] announced in 2008, as well as the “Statement of National Energy” conference held in 2009.

Contradicting the goals set for the reduction of greenhouse gas by increasing renewable energy and shifting the economy towards lower energy-consumption industry, the new policy supports the development of the petrochemical industry.

The failure to restructure Taiwan's industry creates a paradox for sustainable energy development, as Chia-Yang Tsai (蔡嘉陽) from the Taiwan Environmental Information Center points out [zh]:

工業消耗台灣60％以上的電力，價格又僅是民生用電一半以上，電價結構如此不合理，當然容易造成工業用電的浪費。提高工業用電的電價更可以淘汰高耗能、高汙染的產業，讓台灣的產業結構從根本上轉型，台灣的能源問題才能解決。

Industries in Taiwan consume more than 60% of the [nation's] total electricity, but the price of electricity for industries is cheaper by half than the price of electricity for personal livelihood. Because the price is so cheap for industries, it is easy for them to waste electricity. If we increase the price for industrial electricity, we may be able to eliminate those industries that consume a lot of energy and generate a lot of pollution. After we transform the structure of industries fundamentally, we will solve the energy problems.

An informed choice is needed

Man at an anti-nuclear rally Taiwanese capital, Taipei on March 20, 2011. Image by Flickr user KarlMarx (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

As neighbour Japan's nuclear crisis continues, a more comprehensive energy policy review is needed in Taiwan, in particular regarding the development of the country's nuclear energy.

According to the an article [zh] about the high risk of nuclear energy, Yen (焱) expressed concern that the suspension of the nuclear power plants might cause electricity shortages in the country:

如果您接受了缺電的狀況並且可以安撫其他人接受電力不足的現實，就反吧!

If you are ready for electricity shortages and to convince other people to accept electricity shortagea, please go ahead and oppose nuclear power plants.

On the other hand, many netizens insist that even though Taiwanese people may ultimately choose to develop nuclear power, it is important for the public to understand the risks involved before making their choice. Blogger Subing argues [zh] on March 14:

擁核的人該提出理由說服台灣人為什麼大家要為幾家高耗能公司負擔這麼大的風險。

The supporters of nuclear electricity should convince us why we should take risks because of some high energy-consuming companies.

Questioning demand

In fact, upon checking the data released by the Taiwan Power Company, Siro argued [zh] in a forum discussion thread on March 21:

目前台灣的總發電量, 即使在尖峰負載, 也仍有 23.4% 的賸餘…就算現在把三座核電廠全部關閉, 台灣依然沒有立即的電力危機.

23.4% of the present total electricity generation is not even used in the peak demand period … If we suspend the three nuclear power plants, we should not face an immediate electricity shortage.

Siro continued to explain that nuclear energy is neither cheap nor clean:

核廢料處理及核電廠除役都很可能讓核能發電成本遠高於台電宣稱的成本.

The processing of nuclear waste after the suspension of the nuclear power plants may make the cost of nuclear energy higher than the Taiwan Power Company claimed.

Siro goes on to say however, that the process of suspending a nuclear power plant is not easy or straightforward:

我舉我住的澎湖為例, 澎湖舊火力發電廠位置接近市區, 當郊區新發電廠蓋好, 原電廠拆除後, 土地變成價值不斐, 而這一點是核電廠辦不到的..也是台電在計算成本中, 刻意去忽略的. 核電廠因為儲存核廢料, 即使關閉, 也永遠需要管理監控, 更不用說想要遷廠回收土地.

Take Penghu, the place I live, for example, the old thermal power plant was close to the downtown area. When the new power plant in suburb area was built, the old one was torn down. That land was sold for a lot of money. This is never happens to nuclear power plants … This is what the Taiwan Power Company intended to ignore when they calculated the cost. A nuclear power plant also stores nuclear waste. When [a nuclear plant] is suspended, it needs long-term management. It is not possible to remove the plant and use the land again.

The management of the nuclear power plants and nuclear waste is always a potential threat. Tyrone asked in the discussion section of the article on nuclear risk [zh] on March 14:

當中只要有一件事情疏忽是否就能造成核能污染事件. 為何我們要犧牲後代子孫的幸福造就個人的舒適?

If there is any mistake in [nuclear plant] management, radiation pollution takes place. Why do we want to sacrifice our future generation’s happiness for our own comfort?

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011 and Global Development 2011.

Taiwan: The Reassurance of Nuclear Safety is Not Convincing

I-fan Lin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:13:43 +0000

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, there are calls now for a review of Taiwan’s nuclear energy policy, particularly as a fourth nuclear power plant is now under construction.

Lin Tsung-yao (林宗堯), member of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant Safety Monitoring Committee, has called upon [zh] the Taiwan Power company to do a thorough reevaluation of construction of its fourth nuclear power plant:

核四廠卻是「拼裝產品」…台電發包設計，國內採購制度最常採取低價標…因產品採購時間及品質不一，整個興建工序混亂…目前進入試運轉，也面臨原始顧問公司及「奇異」解約問題，缺乏有經驗的顧問監督。

The fourth nuclear power plant is an assembled plant… The Taiwan Power Company designed the plant itself and contracted out. When it purchased the parts in Taiwan, it usually chose the cheapest ones…Because these parts were purchased at different times and have different levels of quality, the proceedings of construction was a mess…Now test runs have begun, but we see problems like the cancelation of contracts with the original consulting company and General Electric. Therefore, we no longer have experienced consultants and supervision for this plant.

Roodo blogger Evette is also worried about the problems that might occur during assembling of the plant:

我做工業設計的, 各個製造商像日立東芝三菱富士設計圖的小數點進位規格不同是確實的. 而那0.5mm的差別作機構的最清楚. 可以想像核電廠由那麼多上下游工廠出品的組件零件建構在一起, 其中的誤差所造成的後果可不是手機造壞了再造一台那麼簡單!

I am an industrial designer. It is true that producers like Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, and Fuji have different rules for decimal point carrying on blueprints. The person who is responsible for machinery structure is very clear about the 0.5 mm difference (among the parts produced by different companies). We can imagine that if a nuclear power plant is assembled using numerous parts generated by many companies, the result of these kinds of errors are not as simple as errors in making cell phones, in which case we can make another cell phone easily.

Despite these safety concerns, Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou has said that [zh] the government has dismissed calls by opposition lawmakers to halt the project, scheduled to go into operation in 2012.

Roodo blogger Summerlake has complained that the government is not responding to professional concerns:

這樣的專業質疑，卻未曾得到重視，反而成為政府公關急著澄清、掩蓋的＂民眾疑慮＂。

The government does not value these professional opinions. On the contrary, they consider these professional opinions as ‘some people’s doubts’ that should be ignored if they can't be clarified.

The fourth nuclear power plant under construction. Photo courtesy of Muhchyng under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

On the other hand, when Taiwan’s largest electricity producer and monopoly grid operator, the state-run Taiwan Power Company, was asked what they would do if something like the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident were to happen in Taiwan, the company said they would take drastic measures to prevent a scenario from worsening. However, blogger Summerlake questions if these so-called ‘drastic measures’ are practical in Taiwan:

而台電和原能會所謂的斷然措施，又怎麼以人民為優先呢？說穿了，頂多就是規劃了一個半徑五公里（頂多十公里）的撤退圈，但是也從來沒有演習或明確實施過，萬一要擴大到二十公里，那就進入大台北範圍，環保團體預估要撤退160萬人，台電和原能會更是從來沒有構想過。到底是怎麼以人民為優先？

How can the drastic measures mentioned by the Taiwan Power Company and the Atomic Energy Council give priority to our citizens? To be straightforward, they will plan an evacuation area for a radius of 5 km (or as far as 10 km). Yet, they never rehears how people in this area are to be evacuated. If a situation does develop and we need an evacuation area with a radius of 20 km, the evacuation area would include Taipei city. If this happens, it is estimated by environmentalists that 1.6 million citizens would take part in the evacuation. If the Taiwan Power Company and the Atomic Energy Council won't consider such a scenario, how can they say they will give priority to our citizens?

台電和原能會言下之意更把核災撤退，當作是暫時傷害，像地震搖過就沒事一樣…可是，核災一旦發生，當地輻射污染可能持續數年，更遑論輻射塵擴散.

What the Taiwan Power Company and the Atomic Energy Council mean is that a nuclear power plant accident can only cause temporary damage like an earthquake. Nevertheless, if there is a nuclear power plant accident, the radiation pollution will persist for many years, never mind the spread of radiation dust.

Observing the responses of the Taiwan Power Company when it faces the questions regarding the safety issues of the fourth nuclear power plant raised by Yoichi Kikuchi,
Chiong-Yue Li concludes with:

台電過度自滿, 核安最大危機.

The complacency of the Taiwan Power Company is the most serious crisis for nuclear safety.

Taiwan: Country's Nuclear Power Plants Are High Risk

I-fan Lin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:44:15 +0000

The explosion of reactors and failure of cooling systems at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant after the biggest earthquake in the country's recorded history, has alerted the world how risky nuclear power is.

In Germany, tens of thousand environmentalists took to the street on March 12, 2011, the day after the quake struck in Japan, demanding the government to shift from atomic energy to clean energy. Yet, the threat Germany faces falls far behind Japan and Taiwan; the country is not located in the active earthquake zone, whereas its Asian counterparts are in the Pacific tectonic ‘ring of fire.’

Beach near Kenting nuclear plant, Taiwan. Image by Flickr user impaulsive photography (CC BY 2.0).

Currently Japan has 17 nuclear power plants in its 378,000 square-kilometer territory and three more will be in operation by 2018. Taiwan covers an area of just 36,000 square kilometers, yet has three nuclear power plants and is building a fourth. The density of nuclear power plants is therefore much higher in Taiwan than in Japan, so you can image how Taiwanese feel when they see the disaster unfolding at Fukushima.

High risk

Indeed, the risk of nuclear power plants hit by an earthquake in Taiwan is very high, as 朱淑娟 (Shu-Chuan Chu) points out:

核電廠距離經過金山海岸的「山腳斷層」只有5到7公里。核四廠址5公里內就有6條「非活動斷層」，且貢寮核四廠址的半徑80公里海域內，有70幾座海底火山，其中的11座更處於活火山的狀態。

The first and second nuclear power plants are five to seven kilometers [km] away from the Shanjiao Fault in the Kinshan coastal area. The fourth nuclear power plant is less than five km away from six inactive faults. In addition, within a radius of 80 km of the fourth nuclear power plant, there are more than 70 undersea volcanoes, 11 of them are active.

核一廠耐震設計是0.3g，核二、核三、核四為0.4g，遠不如日本核電廠原本的耐震設計0.6g（g為重力加速度）。日本核電廠為了因應強震，已開始進行耐震強度提昇工程到1.0g，但台灣卻仍無視於地震的威脅。

[In Taiwan] The anti-earthquake design is 0.3g [g = measure of peak ground acceleration] for the first nuclear power plant and 0.4g for the second, third, and fourth plants. They are far weaker than the anti-earthquake design in Japan, which is [typically] 0.6g. Due to its strong earthquakes, Japan plans to have 1.0g anti-earthquake design for new nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, not many people in Taiwan care about the earthquake threat.

Because of the geographical similarities, 菊地洋一 (Yoichi Kikuchi), a Japanese expert in nuclear power plants, warns that nuclear power plants in Taiwan may have similar structure-related problems as those observed in Japan:

台灣的核一、核二廠所用的反應爐與日本都是屬於同一型，而且兩國都是多地震國家，所以在日本發生的問題，台灣不可能會沒有問題。最近的 BWR 型屬使用最高品質的 SUS316L 製造 (材料的質地較軟，因此較不容易產生裂痕的現象) ；各電力公司一再強調，這種材料絕對不會發生裂痕問題。可是實際上它還是發生了，這次日本東京電力公司隱瞞事件(註: 2002年)中也發現，其它的部分同樣也有裂痕。

The nuclear reactors in the first and second nuclear power plants in Taiwan are similar to many nuclear reactors in Japan. Since there are frequent earthquakes in Taiwan and Japan, what has happened in Japan will also happen in Taiwan. The recent design of the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) has adopted high-quality SUS317L stainless steel as the construction material, which is softer and has fewer cracking problems, and all the nuclear power companies have kept stressing that this material will never develop cracks. In the current accident [Fukushima], we have seen the cracks. In fact, far back in 2002, cracks were found in the BWR in the investigation of the Tokyo electric power company scandal.

To summarize, the nuclear power plants in Taiwan are not immune to the natural forces that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Fourth Taiwan Nuclear Power Plant. Image by Flickr user Hao-Zhong Wang

Nuclear plant opens in 2011

In spite of all the worries and questions raised by concerned citizens and experts, the Taiwanese government planned to have the fourth nuclear power plant in operation by 2011, as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Republic of China. The running of this nuclear power plant was claimed to be delayed after amid calls for a temporary suspension after the Fukushima incident. Nevertheless, a new schedule with safety measures was not revealed, and the construction of this nuclear power plant was not suspended.

In an exchange gathering between Japanese and Taiwanese green activists back in August 2010, some participants alerted [zh] that rushed nuclear construction might lead to future disaster:

台灣只因行政院長一聲令下，就被迫必須趕在明年完工的核四，與發生人類史上最慘烈核安事故的前蘇聯車諾比核電廠，竟然有許多相似之處。

In Taiwan, because of the order of the Executive Yuan [House of Administration], the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant is forced to be completed in 2011. This situation is similar to what happened in the Chernobyl disaster.

1983 年車諾比核電廠已有3座原子機組運轉，而正在興建中的四號機工程進度卻大幅落後，核電廠廠長普力烏哈諾夫不敢表明工程延誤的事實，且適逢12月22日核能工業紀念日，蘇聯政府希望機組能趕在這個國家紀念日完工。於是電廠不計一切手段，變更原本設計及材料，終於趕在當日完工。接下來，竟又省略許多必須的安全測試，趕在隔年3月27日商業運轉。事後，廠長及大半主管獲得表揚及獎金…1986年4月26日，車諾比電廠4號機在機組測試中失控爆炸。

In 1983, there were three nuclear reactors working in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but the construction of the fourth reactor was delayed. The head of the plant did not dare to reveal the truth. At the same time, the Russian government hoped the construction of the fourth reactor could be completed before December 22 for the nuclear industry's annual memorial day. Therefore, the plant changed the original designs and materials. They managed to complete the construction on time. Later, they skipped a number of essential safety tests because they were hurrying to let the reactor start running for commercial purposes before March 27, 1984. The head of the plant and most managers there were honored and rewarded for meeting the deadline…In April 6, 1986, the newly built fourth reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in a operational test.

曾經在2008年爆發擅自變更設計、控制室也曾經被颱風滅頂，如今事故頻傳，卻一樣背負著「上級命令」趕工運轉的核四，真的可以啟動嗎？

In 2008, there was a scandal in the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant in Taiwan because the constructor changed the original design without authorization. Later, the control room was submerged in a typhoon. Recently, the plant has failed in a number of safety tests. Yet the constructors are hurrying to complete construction because of orders from the top. Is this a risk we want to take?

Taiwan: The Allure of Night Markets

I-fan Lin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:08:21 +0000

After sunset in Taiwan, when the stars start to twinkle, night markets are crowded with people from all walks of life. To Taiwanese, night markets are more than mere eating places. In a traditional night market, people eat, shop, and play games at the same time. Taiwanese love night markets, and now the culture of the night market has become a distinctive and precious touristic experience for foreigners visiting Taiwan.

Grace, a Taiwanese in New York City, writes about a visit to Taiwan:

My friends were asking me what I was going to do when I got to Taiwan…knowing my family, I knew we were going to drop off our bags and head straight to the night markets.

However, once upon a time, the “night markets” were much less famous than the “morning markets”. Liang-Lu Han explains:

早晨拜廟之餘再祭祭自己的五臟廟就成了廟口早市的起源。早市因廟口而起，但夜市則依菜市場和交通要道而生…早市的城市性格是農業社會的，日出而作、日落而息，但夜市卻代表了城市的工商業性格，離開土地、家園進入工廠、異鄉的人們，在傍晚之後在都市的街道尋找食物、商品的刺激與慰藉。

In the morning, people went to the temples to pray and then ate breakfast. This is the origin of the temple-front morning markets. The morning markets are close to temples, and the night markets are close to markets and main roads…The morning markets belong to the agriculture society, waking up at sunrise and sleeping at sunset. On the other hand, the night markets represent the industrial and commercial routine in the cities. People leave their land and hometowns for the factories and cities. Then they reward themselves with food and consumption in the evening in the streets.

Night markets keep evolving alongside with the Taiwanese society. A Japanese traveler was amazed by the efficiency of the vendor in the night market:

神業としか思えない包み作業に見入っていると、待ち時間もあっという間サ～。
20人待ちぐらいで10分待ったかな？
番号札もらってあまりの待ち人数に「ゲェッッッ！？」と思っても、次々と出来上がるので心配ご無用。

I stared rapt as they prepared food with what could only be God's hands, and the waiting time passed quickly. There were 20 people ahead of me and can you believe I only stood in line for 10 minutes? When I got my ticket from the machine and counted the number of people ahead of me, I thought “gosh!”. There was no reason to worry, though!

While every Taiwanese loves night markets, the idea of a good night market differs and can be conflicting. Recently, the Tourism Bureau held a nationwide night market competition. According to the event spokeswoman:

The competition aims to select (the night markets) that are the cleanest, the most friendly to foreign visitors, the most interesting, the easiest to stroll through and the richest in culinary diversity.

On the other hand, some people prefer to preserve local culture and do not agree with the evaluation based on these “international standards”. Chensumi says:

找美食菁英來評比夜市，就好像辦部落格文學獎一樣，夜市之所以存在的理由，就是「不需要被美食菁英指指點點就可以靠底層生命力活得好好的」。

Inviting these famous “gourmets” to evaluate night markets is similar to holding a literary award for bloggers. The reason why the night markets can survive is “living with the people but not with the gourmets”.

逛夜市的目的是什麼？就是去擠啊，去吃熱量很高又不健康的比臉孔大的炸雞排啊，吃廉價的豪邁的又會滋滋響的鐵板牛排啊…何況還可以撈金魚打彈珠…你永遠記得禮拜幾晚上，那片空地突然亮起燈泡，穿著拖鞋短褲就可以去吃東西，去玩耍，去看有趣的歐吉桑拍賣喊價。

Why do we want to go to the night market? We want to squeeze around in the crowd. We want to eat fried chickens bigger than our face, which is high calorie and unhealthy. We want to eat the cheap and big and sizzling steak…In addition, we want to scoop the golden fishes and play pinball… Whenever you see the light bulbs turned on in that empty lot, you can dash out with your slippers and shorts to buy food, hang out and see those interesting old ladies shouting out loud the price of their products.

The fried chicken that is bigger than the girl's face. Photo courtesy of koadmonkee under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Chensumi’s article about night markets has attracted a lot of enthusiastic discussions in the comment section. Some people argued that it is not fair to ask the night markets to be as spacious and clean as a restaurant. Maggie said:

我家附近的某塊空地，去年租給許多小攤過來擺夜市，非常空曠，完全不會人擠人，所以不到六個月就全部撤攤。該位美食專家應該很難體會到「人擠人」對於商家的重要性吧。

There is a empty lot close to my house. The landlord rented it to some vendors to hold a night market there last year. The place is very spacious, not crowded at all. As a result, the vendors all left in six months. Those gourmets will not understand the importance of “being crowded” in the night market for the vendors.

Shilin Night Market. Photo courtesy of koadmonkee under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Little babe said:

很多人都提到夜市有髒亂的情形 (人多的地方哪一個不髒?). 但是辦完夜市後呢?還是髒嗎,這就不盡然了吧! 大部分的攤販在營業結束後, 都會清理自己的營業範圍, 隔天去看並不會有髒亂的感覺.

Many people mention that nights markets are dirty and messy (is it possible to keep a crowded place clean?). Nevertheless, after the night markets are closed, will the place remain dirty? No! Most vendors will clean their own lots after they finish the business. The place will not be dirty or messy on the next day.

Stanley talked about how the night market in his hometown changed after becoming a “tourist night market”:

夜市變成了”觀光夜市”後, 雖然這樣可以帶動經濟繁榮, 但相對的在地的味道就會少了很多, 在地人對那個夜市永遠就只能變成回憶了.

Since the night market became a “tourist night market”, it has brought more business and cash, but the local flavor vanished. For the locals, the original night market has turned into memories.

Old pinball game. Photo courtesy of chia ying Yang under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

What will the future night markets look like? Miesiao said:

政府介入其實是因為那些夜市店家也很愛期待政府做事,有商機…但這些觀光化的目標應該還是國外旅客,或許可以想更多觀光化的手段,而是不是害怕觀光化…

The intervention of the government is driven by the vendors in the night markets, who want to have more business …The goal is to attract foreign tourists. We may need to diversify our tactics in touristic development instead of being afraid of the trend.

For example, Joe has pointed out that we should discover the distinctive character for each night market:

我喜歡夜市的美食，卻也討厭各地的夜市都長得一個樣子。我覺得，人有不同的樣子，風景有不同的樣子，狗狗有不同的樣子，怎麼夜市卻都同一個樣子呢？其實，更仔細的品味，也許我會發現每一個夜市不同的樣子，不同的個性。

I enjoy delicacies in night markets, but I do not like them to be the same. People, landscapes and even dogs have different outlooks, how would the night markets be the same? If we study them carefully, we will be able to find out each of their distinctive characters.

Recently, to catch the wave of smart phones, the most famous night market in Taiwan (especially amongst foreigners), the Shilin night market, has an iPhone app now.

Writer's note: Thank you to Portnoy for providing some of the information and Tomomi for helping with the Japanese translation.

Taiwan: Let’s go poking around under the rock of ECFA

I-fan Lin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:09:35 +0000

The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China was signed on June 29, 2010 by the Strait Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (semi-official representatives for Taiwan and China). Later on August 17, the Legislation Yuan of Taiwan approved this agreement.

The process seems smooth and efficient at the surface, but the story is not simple. Many Taiwanese have poked around under the rock of ECFA and questioned the rationality behind the agreement.

The story of ECFA began two years ago. In 2008, Ma Ying-Jeou, the president candidate of Kuomintang (KMT), was elected as Taiwan’s 12th president. After Ma sworn into office as president, his office proposed to sign CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) with China. platocast explained how CEPA evolved to ECFA:

馬政府一開始說要跟中國簽CEPA…大家一細查，發現全世界只有香港跟中國有簽CEPA，台灣的主權被踐踏至極。馬英九政府怕了，才改成說要簽CECA，大家又發現這換湯不換藥，痛罵馬政府，於是馬英九在二月底一急之下說改簽ECFA。

In the beginning, Ma’s office proposed to sign CEPA with China…After some background check, we found only Hong Kong and Macau signed CEPA with China. Therefore, signing CEPA with China would give away Taiwan’s sovereignty. Due to the blame, Ma’s office changed their mind and proposed to sign CECA with China. However, we found CECA was similar to CEPA and blamed Ma’s office again. At last, President Ma proposed to sign ECFA in Feb (2009).

Although Taiwan’s government started to work on ECFA in Feb, 2009, the contents of ECFA were hidden from the public until it was signed by the Strait Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait in June, 2010. The blackbox process worried the opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and they called for a debate about ECFA with the president. Under the pressure, a televised debate between President Ma Ying-Jeou and the chairperson of DPP, Tsai Ing-wen, was held and aired on April 25th, 2010.

blackrain was disappointed that Ma failed to clarify the doubtful points in ECFA that were addressed by Tsai in the debate.

蔡英文的幾個質疑，加深了 ECFA 的可疑程度。例如：
。農產品開放項目將達到六、七百項之多，馬英九完全迴避這部份的補救措施
。馬英九完全不答有哪些產業會受到衝擊，或是他所宣稱的 17 個受影響的產業是什麼，加深了更多人的疑慮
。蔡英文點出馬英九靠攏財團、以及貧富差距的公義問題，馬英九完全無法回答
。蔡英文成功地反擊了馬英九所宣稱的「急迫性」，馬英九無法化解

What Tsai Ing-Wen questioned deepens the doubt toward ECFA. For example
(1) There are 600-700 agriculture products listed in ECFA, but Ma avoided answering if the government has prepared for the impact.
(2) Ma did not answer the question regarding the industries that will be influenced by ECFA or the details of the 17 industries that he claimed will be influenced by ECFA, which deepened many people’s suspicion.
(3) Tsai pointed out that Ma benefits the big firms and ignores the problems of the poverty gap and social justice, but Ma could not answer this question.
(4) When Tsai controverted the urgency (of signing ECFA) claimed by Ma successfully, Ma could not explain.

Later the DPP distributed a video below on YouTube, accusing ECFA, as CEPA, will cause social injustice:

Here is ESWN's transcription of the video:

(Cantonese voice-over)

There are lots of rich people in Hong Kong. Reports speak of the averarge income in Hong Kong, but I don't get it. There are more and more poor people; everybody works longer hours; eight out of ten street sweepers are university graduates; senior citizens have to scavenge in the streets. Actually, is the Chief Executive sent over from Beijing? It does not matter what CEPA is. It can't be a bad thing to let the people of Hong Kong make more money. But it shouldn't be this way. The rich eat shark fin, whereas the poor cannot even have a single vermicelli noodle?

(in written words) After Hong Kong signed CEPA, it has become the city with the largest wealth inequality in the world. We don't want an ECFA that let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Martin oei, who have lived in Hong Kong for more than 30 years, commented on this video,

若然簽了ＥＣＦＡ，今日香港，便是明日台灣，甚至情況會更慘。不少香港人，看完民進黨廣告後，都認為廣告反映了他們心聲，特別最尾一句，為何貧民連粉絲都沒得吃？

If Taiwan signs ECFA, Taiwan will become what Hong Kong is today. Many people in Hong Kong think this video, especially the last words, reflects their feelings: why we poor people do not even have vermicelli noodles to eat?

After the debate, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) requested to hold a referendum on the question: “Do you agree that the government signs ECFA with China?” However, this referendum was rejected by the Referendum Review Commission.

The decision made by the Referendum Review Commission reminded Taiwanese the problem of having this commission in their government. subing said,

公審會頂多有權力做程序審查，也就是說檢查一下連署人數足不足夠，有沒有作假，該送的文件有沒有到齊…根據台灣的公投法，公投要成案最後大約要87萬人連署，這21個人有什麼資格實質審查87萬人的意願？這根本就是違反民主基本原則，也違憲。

At most, the Review Commission should be only authorized to review the process, e.g., check if the number of people cosigned is enough or if all the documents are submitted…Based on the Law of Referendum, we will need 870000 people to cosign the referendum to pass it. Why do these 21 people (in the commission) have the right to judge the intention of these 870000 people? What this commission did violates the basic rules of democracy and violates our constitution.

Despite the dispute, ECFA was signed by the semi-official representatives for Taiwan and China on June 29, 2010. After the articles of ECFA were finally revealed, they stimulated a lot of discussions. For example, KuanMom criticized the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Committee mentioned in article 11,

(ECFA)第11條所成立的「兩岸經濟合作委員會」(*)，完全不受任何台灣立法機關的監督，空白授權給海基海協指定任何人選，全權負責協議的執行、解釋、爭議處理、後續所有協商的速度及廣度。ECFA第11條完全不提該委員會如何組成?對誰負責?由誰授權?受誰監督?經費何來?設置在哪?

(*)雙方成立「兩岸經濟合作委員會」（以下簡稱委員會）。委員會由雙方指定的代表組成，負責處理與本協議相關的事宜。

The 11th article (in ECFA) mention setting up the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Committee (*), but it does not mention how the Legislation Yuan of Taiwan can supervise this committee. In other words, the committee members assigned by the Strait Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait without appropriate authorization will handle the execution and explanation of ECFA, the arbitration of disputes, and all the following negotiations. The 11th article in ECFA does not mention how the committee will be organized, who it should be responsible for, where its authorization comes from, who will supervise it, the funding source of it, or the location of it.

(*) Temporary translation of this article based on the available Chinese version: Both sides should set up the ‘Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Committee’ (abbreviated as the committee). The members of this committee are assigned by both side, and these members will be responsible to the processes related to this agreement.

Despite the dispute, ECFA was sent to the Legislation Yuan. hehe complained about the process,

從媒體上，我們只看到了大肆報導某立委肢體衝突，但真正的暴力，恐怕是整個會議過程毫無程序正義的多數暴力。
坦白說，我個人對於ECFA簽不簽，並沒有太大的堅持，我也相信多數人和我一樣，希望的只是在一個民主程序下、透過多方意見的討論形成共識；縱使不能形成共識，至少也在各種意見可以得到充分表達的情況下，政府可以更周延的考量到不同立場或生存的人，可能受到的衝擊，而得以有好防範措施。
然而，影片中國會決定將ECFA等相關法案（其中牽涉可能數十、上百的法律條文）逕付二讀的過程，不禁令人懷疑，這樣的立法程序，我們還能期待什麼？

From the media, we only see the physical confrontations between some legislators. However, the real violence is the tyranny of the majority in the meeting without any justice.
To be honest, I do not have a strong opinion regarding signing ECFA or not. I believe most people are like me, and what we want is a consensus that is reached by discussions from different perspectives and following the rules in democracy. Even if we cannot reach a consensus, we hope the government can benefit from these discussions and protect those who will be influenced by ECFA.
Nevertheless, in this video, the way ECFA, which may include tens or hundreds of articles, was passed make us doubt that what we can expect with this kind of legislation process.

Well, we all know what will happen if we poke around the rocks–some very nasty things live under rocks.

Taiwan: Rice fields outside the Presidential Office

I-fan Lin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:17:44 +0000

On July 18th, Taiwanese farmers turned the grand boulevard in front of the Presidential Office into rice fields to protest against the Land Expropriation Act.

On June 9th, 20 excavators were sent to take over 28 hectares of rice field in Dapu Borough (大埔), a farming village, to make way for the expansion of Jhunan Science Park. Similar land expropriation stories were heard in other counties.

Some farmers and activists in Dapu pointed out that the land expropriation was illegal and filed an application with the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to void permission for Miaoli County Government to take over farmland on July 17. At night, they protest in front of the Presidential Office, and residents who are facing a similar situation in Houlong Township (後龍), Miaoli County, Erlin Township (二林), Changhua County, Jhudong (竹東) Township and Jhubei (竹北) City in Hsinchu County and Tucheng City (土城), Taipei County joined in.

After the overnight sit-in, thousands of farmers and activists paved the Ketagalan Boulevard with rice shoots, turned the concrete ground into green field and presented to the public the beauty of agriculture.

The rice seedlings were shipped directly from the farm fields.

Photo courtesy of Edd Jhong.

The farmers started to pave the rice seedlings outside the Presidential building.

Photo courtesy of Edd Jhong.

The Ketagalan Boulevard was transformed into a green field.

Photo courtesy of Edd Jhong.

Ai-Wen Chen (陳藹文), a supporter who joined the overnight protest, explained why she joined the protest.

自從在網路上看到怪手開進農田強行「整地」的那一幕，我就開始擔心，會不會有一天，我家的地也這樣，可能爲了「開發」二字，我就必須獻出，不管我願不願意。這真的不是錢的問題，是我覺得我們應該被尊重。

When I saw the image of excavators rampaging in the rice fields, I started to worry that maybe someday my land will face the same threat. Maybe I will be asked to give up my land no matter I like it or not because of ‘development.’ This is not a matter of money. I think we deserve some respect.

我來到這兒參加守夜行動，夜宿凱達格蘭大道，這次的大會師才知道，原來，受害的不只是農民與農地，許多人的居住地、一些古蹟建築的所在地，都同樣被霸王硬上弓，為了捷運、為了高鐵、為了科學園區、為了工業區…等「開發」的好理由，一個土地徵收條例，所有人都只能用抗爭來表達不願意。只能用抗爭來表達不願意，是我們尊嚴的二度喪失。

I joined the overnight protest and slept on the Ketagalan Boulevard. After talking to other protesters, I learned that not only these farmers’ rice fields, but also some people’s houses and historical buildings were forced to torn down because of the metro, high-speed rail, science parks, industrial parks, etc. Because of ‘development’ and the Land Expropriation Act, what we can do is coming here to protest. When we need to protest to show our objection, we lose our dignity again.

Are you curious about the fate of these rice seedlings?

這些秧苗被在場農民命名為「凱稻」已在行動結束後，被移到台灣各地農村播種，象徵農村生生不息。

These rice seedlings were named ‘Ke-rice’ (its pronunciation in Chinese is the same as the nickname of Ketagalan Boulevard) by the farmers. They were moved and planted in villages across the island to symbolize the never ending cycle of life in rural Taiwan.

Taiwan: In memory of Chao-Jung Hsu, a Taiwanese WWII veteran

I-fan Lin — Thu, 20 May 2010 03:20:59 +0000

Today is the 2nd anniversary of Chao-Jung Hsu's death, a Taiwanese WWII veteran. His tragic fate reflects the complex history of Taiwan which have been governed by various colonial powers in the last century. Hsu was born in Taiwan on 13 of November 1928 and committed suicide on 20 of May 2008 in a political protest. He was forced to fight for colonizers of his country land, first Japan and then Republic of China (ROC). When he finally was able to make his choice, he devoted his life for his fellow veterans' welfare.

Taiwan was Japan's colony during the WWII, and Hsu was drafted into the Japanese army. When Republic of China (ROC) claimed the sovereign over Taiwan after WWII, the the Chinese Civil War was resumed, and he was drafted into the ROC army again to fight in mainland China. He retreated back to Taiwan in 1949 when ROC lost the battle. He was lucky comparing to many of his colleagues who died in the battle.

However, during the White Terror Period (1949-1987), Hsu was prosecuted by Guomingtang and imprisoned for 10 years for possession of a book on Taiwan independent movement. He was released in 1968 and became a political refugee in 1980. He eventually settled in Toronto, where he started searching for his army colleague's remains in China through the Taiwanese Association in Beijing. Hsu returned back to Taiwan in 1992 after the Taiwan government abolished the “black list” of political dissidents, since then, he devoted all his time to the welfare of overseas Taiwanese veterans. He found out that there were many Taiwanese veterans left behind by the ROC army in China after the the Chinese Civil War. Some of them were captured by the People Liberation Army (PLA) and fought for them in the Civil War and later in the Korean War.

All these veterans were forced to fight for the powers that enslaved them, michaelcarolina sighed,

一代台灣青年，從一九三七年九月，台灣總督府強徵第一批軍夫「白襷隊」，…一直到一九五三年韓戰結束止；短短十六年間，台灣兵穿遍日本皇軍、國民黨軍，和人民解放軍的制服。

These young Taiwanese soldiers who were drafted into the Japanese army in September 1937…(were in the battlefield) until the end of the Korean War in 1953. Within 16 years, they had worn the uniforms of the Japanese army, the ROC army, and then the PLA.

Being the ultimate victims of the War, many overseas Taiwanese veterans could not return back to their home in Taiwan due to the tension across the Strait. Hsu decided to organize a campaign to to bring these Taiwanese WWII veterans back home.

當年(一九八九年)三月，許昭榮在北京發起「滯留大陸台籍老兵要回家」簽名運動，獨自一人拿著白布條，走過煙台、長山島、青島、上海、杭州、廈門，親訪這些滯留中國的老兵.

In March, 1989, Hsu held an activity ‘Taiwanese veterans want to go home’ in Beijing. Then he held the banner and traveled across Yantai, Jangsando, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Xiamen to visit the Taiwanese veterans he knew.

As a result of the campaign, Hsu found out that most of the overseas Taiwanese veterans in China and other Southeast Asia countries (those drafted by Japanese army deployed to the Southeast Asia) were in very difficult and miserable situation politically, economically, and psychologically. They were left behind in an alien land during the WWII, became political exiles and did not receive any pension from the ROC army nor Japanese army even though they had fulfilled the duty as a solider.

In order to fight for the rights of his fellow veterans, Hsu organized talks, held a number protests and hunger strike and eventually founded the Association of Taiwanese Veterans in 1994.

引起社會重視…政府也因此不得不正視。返鄉探親、定居，條件相繼放寬…國防部也同意將「陣亡台籍英靈」入祀台北圓山忠烈祠，並研擬撫恤事宜。

public awareness was raised successfully… the government finally had to confront their demand and loosened the restrictions for the Taiwanese veterans in China to return back to Taiwan and get settled…The Department of Defense agreed to list ‘Taiwanese veterans’ in the Martyrs Shrine in Taipei and arranged the pensions for the veterans who worked in the ROC army in the Chinese Civil War.

Apart from material compensation, Hsu felt the need to remind Taiwanese people of the WWII history from the life history of Taiwanese veterans. He decided to build a memorial for his fellow veterans.

一九九七年起，許昭榮與協會開始與一些地方政府接洽提供建碑用地，但始終未能如願。一九九八年六月廿八日起，許昭榮等人以接力絕食靜坐方式，終於獲得當時高雄市長吳敦義的同意協助，最後因此取位於高雄旗津海岸約三千八百坪的國有公園用地，計劃興建紀念碑及公園。

Since 1997, Hsu started to contact various local governments to find a place for setting up a memorial for Taiwanese veterans. He was neglected. In order to raise public support, Hsu and his friends started a hunger strike on June 28th, 1998 and eventually, the mayor of Kaohsiung City, Mr. Wu, agreed to give them a national recreation area (about 12562 square meter) close to Chi-Jin to set up a memorial and a park.

由於沒有經費，紀念公園曾經有很長一段時間就這麼一直處在「計劃興建中」。…許昭榮再次向親友募款湊足卅二萬元，二○○六年十一月廿八日豎立一塊約廿噸重「戰爭與和平紀念公園」石碑…二○○七年下半年，中央撥下第二期工程經費，卻因高雄市議會的掣肘而動彈不得；最後，議會竟決議要將「戰爭與和平紀念公園」更名為「八二三砲戰紀念公園」。

Because they did not have enough fund to build the memorial park, that area had been ‘under construction’ for several years. On November 28th, 2006, Hsu raised 320 thousand NTD and set up a ‘War and Peace’ memorial stone (about 20 tons)…In the second half of 2007, the Central government agreed to fund the second phrase construction cost, but the funding was stopped by the Kaohsiung City Council. At the end, the Kaohsiung City Council decided to rename the ‘War and Peace Memorial Park’ as ‘The 823 artillery Bombardment.’

In a protest against the Kaohsiung City Council's decision on 20 of May 2008, Hsu burned himself to death. One year later in 2009 May 20, the “War and Peace Park” was open to the public and below is a video clip (produced by TWIMI) on the Opening:

The Association of Taiwanese Veterans he founded continues to collect life stories of Taiwanese veterans and help Taiwanese understand the history of Taiwanese soldiers in WWII. Every May 20th, people gathered in the War and Peace Park in memory of Taiwanese veterans and Chao-Jung Hsu.

Taiwan: The winner of the Masters de la Boulangerie 2010 is…

I-fan Lin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:33:06 +0000

Pao-Chun Wu, winner of the Coupe Louis Lesaffre in 2007 and silver medalist at the World Cup of Baking in 2008, has won the championship at the Masters de la Boulangerie 2010. (Via News from la Coupe Louis Lesaffre)

twrose describes the 2008 competition, which paths Wu's way to the master of bakery:

三月二十九日，所有選手聚集到巴黎北部的選手村，天氣雖冷，空氣中卻充滿煙硝味。最引人注目的是這次比賽三大種子隊之一的日本隊，是由有上百家連鎖店的東客麵包店與神戶屋主廚、帝國飯店主廚，以及二○○二年拿到世界冠軍的日本選手所訓練出來的菁英隊伍。「他們看都不看你，」吳寶春記得對手的氣勢，台灣隊則是第一次參加這種國際賽事的小隊伍。

In March 29th, all competitors came to the village in northern Paris. Although it was cold, you could smell the gunpowder in the air. The most glaring team is the team from Japan, one of the three most promising teams in this competition. The elites in the Japanese team included the chefs in the chain stores DONQ and the Imperial Hotel, who were trained by the winner of the World Cup of Baking in 2002. That was the first time the Taiwanese team attending this competition. Pao-Chun remembered that no one noticed the Taiwanese team.

世界盃前一個半月，法國突然寄來新的比賽規則：要求歐式麵包項目（編按：由吳寶春負責）要在八小時內做出十一種麵包，共二百五十一個。「怎麼那麼多？怎麼做得出來！」所有人都嚇到了，這麼大的量，一般需要十二個小時呀！…八小時，沒人喝一口水、或離開上廁所，拚盡全部的力氣，終於在倒數三分鐘前完成，整場歡聲鼓掌。台灣是當天第一組完成的隊伍，在十二隊國際隊伍裡，只有六隊順利完成，連日本隊都沒有完成。

One and half month before the World Cup of Baking (in 2008), the administration office in France sent new rules to the competitors. They asked the chef in the category baguettes and specialty breads (Pao-Chun in the Taiwanese team) to make 11 kinds of baguettes, in total 251 baguettes, within eight hours. All competitors were surprised by this request because this amount of breads usually takes 12 hours…In the eight hours in the competition, no one in the Taiwanese team drank a drop of water or went to the toilet. They worked with full strength and finished the task three minutes before the deadline. The Taiwanese team was the first one to finish, and the audience applauded for their effort. In 12 teams, only six made it. Even the Japanese team failed to finish the task on time.

Photo courtesy of justeating.

Wildeny said why it is not easy for a chef trained and working in Taiwan to win the championship:

In Taiwan, this kind of artisan-style bread is not widely accepted. People still used to pastry-like sweet bread (soft & rich; which was influenced by Japan) or traditional steamed buns. Most bakers do not master in artisan baking.

The most challenging part in the competition, Justeating said is the specialty breads.

最需花腦力的是具有國家特色的麵包。前一次比賽時，寶春師傅採用紅酒桂圓麵包奪取亞軍，那百年老龍眼樹和柴火慢燻產出的桂圓，的確是一款百分百的台灣味。而今年呢？

The competitors must think hard to produce the specialty breads that can represent the competitor’s own country. Last time (2008) the red wine longan breads won Pao-Chun the silver medal in the World Cup of Baking. The dried longan he used is from a longan tree that has been producing longan for hundreds of years. As soon as the longan is harvested, it is roasted in a wood-fired oven for six days and nights. The dired longan certainly represents Taiwan. What specialty breads will he make this year?

Photo courtesy of justeating.

「我想用荔枝乾和玫瑰，然後用原住民的小米酒做媒介，你覺得如何？」

Pao-Chun asked me, ‘I want to add dried lichee and rose to the breads and use the millet wine as the medium. What do you think?’

玫瑰的香氣，荔枝乾的淡甜，小米酒的酸韻，這三種味道想在麵包中取得平衡，困難度不低啊！

It is difficult to find a balance among the aroma of rose, slight sweetness of dried lichee, and the sour flavor in the millet wine.

果然，在接下來的一段時間中，我嘗到許多次失敗的作品，有時小米酒酸味過高，有時荔枝乾軟爛無味，有時嘗不出玫瑰的香氣。諸多狀況發生後，我曾不只一次建議寶春師傅，看要不要將香氣最淡的玫瑰拿掉，然而寶春師傅每回都以「凡事正面思考，讓我們再試試看」做結論。

Just as expected, I ate a lot of failure products in the following months. Sometimes the sour flavor in the millet wine was too intense, sometimes the dried lichee was soft, rotten, and without its lychee flavor, sometimes I could not find the aroma of rose. After eating these failure products, I told Pao-Chun several times that he should give up rose because its aroma is the lightest. Nevertheless, Pao-Chun always told me, ‘we should think positively. Let us try one more time.’

出發前往法國比賽之前，寶春師傅總算抓到了完美的配方，三角型的麵包外型，在原住民的意涵裡代表頂天立地的山峰，上頭以麵粉營造出荔枝的圖像…再以荔枝酒取代小米酒，凸顯荔枝的香氣，夾雜著埔里的有機玫瑰香息，做出口感清雅獨特的－－「荔香玫瑰麵包」。

Before Pao-Chun left for the competition in France, he finally found the perfect ingredients. The triangle shape of the breads represents mountains in our aboriginal culture. On the surface of the breads is the figure of lichee made of flour. In the competition, he used the lichee wine to replace the millet wine so the aroma of lichee can stand out. On top of it is the aroma of the organic rose from Puli–This is the graceful and special lichee rose breads.

When Pao-Chun won the Masters de la Boulangerie, Justeating, who is a close friend of Pao-Chun, had very complicated emotions.

知道寶春師傅得到冠軍時，我腦海中第一個浮出的畫面，不是寶春師傅高舉著獎杯、身邊被眾多媒體環繞的景象，而是一個往來於烤箱和製麵台之間的疲憊身影，一個為了夢想憋著一股勁兒的執著眼神──那是2010年2月24日下午，吳寶春出發前往巴黎比賽的最後一次練習。

When I heard that Pao-Chun is the winner, the first image brought to my mind is not the image of him holding the cup and surrounded by the reporters. Instead, it is a tired figure walking between the oven and the working platform with strong will in the eyes fired by his dream. That is in the afternoon, Feb 24th, 2010, when Pao-Chun did his last practice for the competition before he left for Paris.

對於寶春師傅來說，這是一場「一個人的戰爭」，周遭朋友能做的事情，除了鼓勵之外，只有默默地相伴。

To Pao-Chun, this is a war between himself. His friends can only encourage him and accompany him.

「比賽是短暫的，學習是永遠的。」

He said, ‘the competition is transient, but the lesson I learn from it lasts forever.’

就他的角度來看，這次參加比賽的目的，除了希望將台灣的好告訴全世界之外，還能讓他學習如何跟壓力相處。自我的成長空間，遠遠比以奪冠來得重要。

From his perspective, the goals of this competition are telling the world the good stuff in Taiwan and learning to deal with pressure. The personal development is far more important than winning the prize.

This is a video for the World Cup of Baking in 2008.

Taiwan: How the Puyuma people started Year 2010

I-fan Lin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:27:22 +0000

The Puyuma tribe is one of the indigenous groups in Taitung County along Taiwan’s East Coast. Nanwang, as the leading village in the tribe, holds the Monkey Ceremony and Hunting Rite in every December and starts the new year with the Annual Ritual.

In the evening before the Monkey Ceremony (12/19 in Year 2009), boys in the south group and north group met and challenged each other, and then they visited the families in the Nanwang Village to drive out the evil spirits.

Magulis took photos of this activity and explained:

每一位孩子必須帶著枯香蕉葉，傳說此枯葉配合團體的氣勢可以驅除霉氣。

Every boy must bring some dried banana leaves. In our traditions, the leaves with the group spirits can drive out the evil spirits.

After the boys ran into the living room of a family, they lied prone and yelled: Halabagai (we are here to drive out the evil spirits)!

When the boys finished their mission, they came back the Palakuwan (the traditional youth meeting hall) and enjoyed the desserts prepared by the families they helped drive out the evil spirits.

Magulis followed these boys until the ritual ended.

時間已經是半夜一點，領完糖果後活動結束讓小朋友回家，準備隔天早上的〝猴祭〞活動。

It was one o’clock in the morning. The boys went home after they took some candies. They would attend the ‘Monkey Ceremony’ in the morning after.

The video of this activity was taken by Paudull in 2005.

Taiwan culture portal reported,

The Monkey Ceremony is considered the most unique of the Puyuma Rites. It includes many “tests” including the killing of a monkey with a bamboo staff. Today, this tradition is still carried out, but only symbolically, with the use of toy monkeys, rather than real ones.

Paudull shared the video taken in the Monkey Ceremony.

In the video, after the boys stabbed the toy monkey, the elder boys hit the younger boys’ bottoms to teach them obedience. Then they sang the traditional song ‘Gudau’ together.

Between 27-30 of December, some men entered the mountain to perform the Hunting Rite. These hunters came back on 12/31 and were welcomed by the villagers.
Taiwan culture portal reported,

At the end of the Hunting Rites, the males are welcomed outside the village at an arch built from bamboo. The women crown the males of their family with a flower wreath and prepare their ceremonial clothing for them to change into.

In the evening, young villagers sang the traditional songs for each family to welcome the new year. Paudull shared the video taken in the carol:

In the morning on 1/1/2010, the elders visited the families who lost their family members in the past year and sang traditional songs for them, and then the villagers held the Annual Ritual in the Palakuwan. Paudull shared the video taken in the Annual Ritual:

Although most attendants in these ceremonies are male, female villagers also helped to prepare for the ceremonies. Taiwan culture portal said,

The Puyuma traditionally was a matrilineal society…Women were in charge of household affairs and the family property was passed from mother to daughter. In addition, women were responsible for overseeing traditional ceremonies and rites.

Hia Sani (Amanda) and Magulis took photos to show how the women in the village cut down the bamboos and made the clothes and flower wreaths for the ceremonies. Magulis said,

編織一條花環大約必須花上20分鐘的時間(熟練者). 編織花環的人是辛苦的, 被戴上花環的人是幸福的. 因為戴上的花環代表著親友獻上的”愛”

For an experienced person, a flower wreath takes 20 minutes to make. Making the flower wreaths is a hard job. The people who are crowned with these flower wreaths are blessed because the flower wreaths represent the love from their family and friends.

It is hard to make the flower wreaths, but it is much harder to hold these ceremonies because many Puyuma people have left their homeland for study or for work.

The videos of these ceremonies show that the traditional songs carry the spirits of the Puyuma tribe, from one generation to another generation, from the village to other cities. Baliwakes (1910-1988) is a very important person in Nanwang Village because he wrote many songs in Puyuma language with Puyuma spirit. Taiwan’s indigenous peoples’ resource center said,

陸森寶說自己作詞作曲是基於一個非常簡單的理由：他希望正在遺忘自己族語的年輕人，藉他的歌找到「山上的話」，從「山上的話」找到回「paLakuwan」的路。

Baliwakes said that he wrote the songs because he hoped the young people in his village, who started to forget their mother tones, can find the words from Puyuma Mountain and find their way to go back their paLakuwan.

Here is the last song written by Baliwakes (in Puyuma language), ‘In memory of the Annual Ritual.’

mikiyakarunan ku isiDumayan

I have to work away from my homeland

aDi ku pakawurumaruma

I cannot go home very often

hoiyan hoiyan iyahohaiyan hoiyan hoiyan iyahohaiyan aDi ku abaLu sonomukasi

I do not forget our tradition

tu pu'apuTai ku kan nanali

My mother crowns me with a flower wreath

muka ku muwaraka i paLakuwan

I go to paLakuwan and dance

Taiwan: The future for the aboriginal people after Typhoon Morakot

I-fan Lin — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:03:47 +0000

Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan Aug. 7-9, triggering the worst flooding in 50 years in southern Taiwan and leading to landslides that buried remote mountainous villages and tribal settlements. In order to speed up the post-disaster reconstruction, the Legislative Yuan passed an urgent special statute to raise a special budget on 27 of August. However, the Statue authorizes governments at all levels to impose compulsory relocation of villages or tribal settlements from areas vulnerable to floods and landslides to safer areas. For aboriginal people, the geographical location and tribal community are crucial to the preservation of their culture and tradition, many are worried that the “compulsory relocation policy” would make their more vulnerable in the future.

Home buried in mud

imagelight visited Mashia village and reported,

橋樑房屋無一倖免，全被土石流吞噬…村裡像是剛戰爭過一樣…還有二十幾名村民被埋在土石堆裡。

The bridges and buildings were all engulfed by the mudslide…The village looks like a battlefield… More than twenty people were buried in the mud.

由於道路不通，電力一直無法恢復…晚餐五點多就開始吃了，就是怕天色暗了夾不到菜…現在要清理道路，就是希望可以將山上的水果運送到山下去賣，順道帶幾部發電機回來。

Because the roads are still blocked by the mud, there is no electricity…Villagers have to eat dinner at 5pm or they have to eat in the dark after sunset…Now the residents are trying to clean the roads so that they can bring fruits to sell in the markets and bring back some electricity generators.

After the typhoon, many people from other less affected aboriginal villages bring food and generators across the mountains to these isolated villages. Judie reported,

遠從宜蘭、桃園、新竹來的泰雅族勇士(包括女性)，以最簡單的提袋(ka-chi-a)綁上綿繩和塑膠水管當背包，揹著重重的民生物資，徒步越過已不成路的土石堆，進入鄒族部落。這樣的行動持續超過兩個禮拜。

The Atayal people (including women) from Yilan, Taoyuan, and Hsinzu have carried these heavy supplies with the backpacks made of simple bags, cotton ropes, and plastic tubes for two weeks. They walked across the mountains to go to the Tsou villages.

The government asks the survivors to evacuate, but many of the villagers prefer to stay in the villages. Gaea explained their reasons.

居民不願下山「是擔心政府之後就不開路，我們就回不了家」…「下了山，我們就不是『居民』，而是『難民』。」三民國中教師葉一萱指出，原住民離開部落，幾乎不受任何法律保障。

These residents choose to stay in the village because they are worried that ‘if we have left our village, we will not be able to come back.'…'Once we have left our village, we are no longer considered as “residents”, we become “refugees.”‘ A teacher in Sanming junior high school said there isn't any law to protect aboriginal people's rights and properties once they have left their villages.

Culture and social network

In addition to material damages, the Typhoon has also destroyed aboriginal people's culture heritage. Airportman said that in Hsiaoliin village,

平埔族聚落幾乎覆滅，他們辛苦活化起來的大滿族文化、夜祭、公廨都淹沒在泥土裡。

the Siraya tribe is almost vanished; now everything is buried in the mud: the temples, the Daman tribe culture and the night ceremony the tribe tried to revive in the past few decades.

Furthermore, for the aboriginal people who have been evacuated, gaea said they will be more vulnerable.

必須面對部落分散的狀況，對原住民來說，等同另一種毀滅。

They were forced to settle in different places. Such kind of arrangement is devastating to the aboriginal people.

Village relocation and Post-Disaster Recovery Statue

Coolloud, a citizen media website, discussed about the Post-Disaster Recovery Statue《莫拉克風災重建條例》:

中央政府、縣市政府得就災區安全堪慮或違法濫建之土地，劃定特定區域，限制居住或限期強迫遷居、遷村。金惠雯批評，此條文無限擴張政府權力，完全沒有原住民參與遷村決策的機制。

The central and county government have power to decide on the land use policy in the disaster zone. They can evacuate residents by force or move the whole village to another region. Hui-Wen Jin criticized that the regulation had given the governments with unlimited power and excluded the aboriginal people from decision making process.

gaea reported that before the Post-Disaster Recovery Statue was passed

災區部落的代表與民間社團前往立院靜坐抗議…要求「強制遷村」應拿掉，以及「應取得部落同意」的訴求。

Representatives of the survivors and some civil associations protested in front of the Legislation Yuan…they asked to the legislation body to replace the principle of ‘forced village relocation' with ‘village relocation with consensus.'

coolloud discussed the possibility of reaching a consensus:

金惠雯說，遷村議題一定要回到原住民「傳統領域」的概念，讓原住民保有傳統領域，再由原民住他們選擇安居適合的遷村地址。

Hui-Wen Jin said, the discussion about village relocation should be based on the concept of ‘traditional territory' according to aboriginal culture. The aboriginal people should enjoy their rights to claim their traditional territory and decide on their settlement plan.

The government has a mortgage plan for the survivors, but kikisweets said there are still many problems for the survivors to rebuild their home.

貸款的申請期限僅僅只有一年，意味著在一年內必須要決定該在哪居住。部落的族人依舊希望能夠返回家鄉居住，然而面對消失的土地以及外界專業學者的建議，原地重建的機會渺茫，不得不向外另尋住所…嘉蘭真正需要的是實際的經濟援助，以及未來安置上的專業規劃與建議，家園失去了，族人之間的聯繫與文化是不能失去的。

The deadline for applying this mortgage is one year from now, which means the survivors have to make decision on where they want to settle within this year. Even though the aboriginal people do not want to be displaced, some of the tribes have been buried in the mud and according to experts' opinion, it is impossible for them to move back. It is inevitable that they have to settle elsewhere.…What Chialan tribe needs is financial support and professional advice on future relocation of the tribe. They have already lost their homeland, they cannot lose their culture and relation among members of the tribe.

時間一天天的過去，族人們究竟該何去何從？

Day by day, time passes by. What will be the future of the aboriginals?

Taiwan: Stories of the survivors from Typhoon Morakot

I-fan Lin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:00:02 +0000

有一個古老的傳說

人死後，變成了天上的星星，眷顧著留戀著他所深愛的人們

1999.9.21台灣中部大地震之後，夜空繁星閃爍

每顆星星的背後，都有一個令人心碎的故事

──《921安魂曲地震紀念專輯》文宣

A legend says that we will become stars after death so that we can look after our beloved ones. After the 921 Earthquake in 1999, when we see stars twinkling in the night, we know that every star has its own heart-breaking story. — Requiem for the 921 Earthquake

Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan on 8 August. The heavy rain it brought to Taiwan has caused serious damage: Hundreds of people were buried by the typhoon-spawned mudslide engulfed in Hsiaolin village. In central and southern Taiwan, thousands of people were trapped in their villages because of floods or landslides. In eastern Taiwan, houses were swept away by the rain-swollen river and thousands of people were evacuated.

Survivors from the mudslide-engulfed Hsiaolin village talked about what happened during the Typhoon:

黃金寶和九鄰壯丁從七日晚就徹夜守望，近六點時，洪水以迅雷不及掩耳之勢席捲而至，大水一下淹到腰部，黃金寶…立即高聲叫喚親友避難，四十三人中，有九位小孩、兩位中風病患、一位孕婦。逃難時，黃金寶聽到巨響…身旁的村民驚呼：「崩山啊！」整個小林社區剎那間就不見了。

Jing-Bao Huang and nine other strong men from the neighborhood kept awake over night on 7 of August. Around six in the morning (on 8 of August), the flood came suddenly and submerged everything within a few minutes. The water was to our waist level. Jing-Bao Haung…yelled out loud to his relatives to evaculate. Among the 43 people who ran out of the village, there are nine children, two patients, and one pregnant woman. When they were running out of the village, Jing-Bao Huang heard a thunder-like sound…villagers beside him shouted, ‘It's landslide!’ The whole Hsiaolin village was engulfed and disappeared.

On 11 of August, survivors from Hsiaolin villages were eager to go back and find their relatives. Sharplin, a reporter wrote in her blog:

一大早, 旗山國中早已擠滿心急如焚的家屬…小林村的家屬們好幾度在直昇機要降落時衝往操場…我問家屬怎麼了, 他們說, 是因為昨天有人答應, 要讓他們當中有人可以坐直昇機回去看, 再回來跟其他人講, 可是今天一直等一直等, 都沒人鳥他們.

In the early morning, Chishan junior high school was crowded with anxious relatives of Hsiaoling villagers…These people ran to the playground whenever a helicopter arrived…I asked them why. They said they were told that some of them could get into a helicopter and fly to the village in order to report back the situation. Nevertheless, they have waited for the whole day and no one notice them.

15 of August is the seventh day after the landslide. It is an important day for the dead in Taiwanese traditional religion. Survivors from Hsiaolin village and relatives of missing villagers returned to their village to hold religious ceremony for the dead. Avant went to Hsiaolin village with them.

站在曾經是小林村的土地上，放眼望去所有人工的東西，比如建築物的殘骸、車體零件或村民日常生活用品都看不見，就只剩下巨石、泥流和漂流木！那些電視機的聲音，人們的歌聲，講話聲都聽不到了，四周無聲，現在的小林村變成是靜的可怕死寂。

Standing at the spot where Hsiaolin village was used to be, I could not see any man-made object: no building wreckage, no car parts, and no articles for daily use. All I saw were huge rocks, mud, and driftwoods! I could not hear sounds of televisions, no singing, nor talking. Nothing. The Hsiaolin village has fallen into deadly silence.

一些罹難者的家屬拿著紙錢和香，渡過惡水回到村子祭拜不幸罹難的家屬。他們依著對面的山形，約略找出家的位置後，跪拜亡魂並聲聲呼喚：阿爸！阿母！阮ê心肝囝啊！在一片死寂，只有土石和漂流木的山谷中，他們不停的呼喊著：「阿母恁緊出來喔！」、「恁有聽著無？」、「恁緊轉來喔！」……..

Relatives of the victims walked across the rivers to go back to the village. They brought incense papers and sticks as offerings to the dead. By the landscape of the hills, they located their home. They bowed and shouted: ‘Dad!’ ‘Mom!’ ‘My beloved children!’ In the deadly quiet valley with only mud, rocks, and driftwoods, they kept calling, ‘Mom, come back to me!’ ‘Do you hear me?’ ‘Come back to me!

After this devastating typhoon, 452 riverside areas in 11 counties were announced to be in ‘red alert,’ and 328 areas in 129 villages in 12 counties were announced to be in ‘yellow alerts.’ The residents in the red-alert area should be evacuated immediately. However, not all of them were willing to leave. Chyng said:

居民說，村裡許多長者不肯撤。…我問她，居民的理由？Ｆ回答：「居民說，『親人都死了，我出去幹嘛？』」

The residents said many seniors in the villages are not willing to be evacuated…I asked her why, F told me,’ they said, “my family has gone, so why should I go?”’

In the southern Taiwan, many villages were still submerged by floods. shuchuan went to some villages there on 12 of August and reported,

走進靠海的佳冬鄉塭豐村、豔豐村，積水深及大腿，家具、碎玻璃、各式各樣的垃圾、半個人高的石斑魚漂在水面。家家戶戶堆滿汙泥，多數人都已逃離，連軍隊都進不到裡面。

When I walked into the Wenfeng and Yanfeng village in Jiadung township, which are close to the sea, water level was up to my thigh. There was furniture, glasses, different kinds of trash, and a huge Epinephelus in the water. All houses were filled with mud. Most people were gone. Even the military cannot access the villages.

入夜的林邊、佳冬空氣還有一股動物屍體夾雜汙泥、濕氣的腐臭味。多數住家已不見人影，還留下來的，戴上口罩，拿著手電筒摸黑清理家園，或聚在門前泡茶，居民鄭生生說，「大家都不敢睡啊」。

In Linbian and Jiadung township, rotten odor of dead animals and mud mixed with the evening air. Most of the people had left. People who chose to stay were cleaning up their home with a flashlight in their hands. Some were having tea in front of their house. A resident, Hseng-Hseng Chang said, ‘no one dares to sleep.’

Taitung County in eastern Taiwan was also suffered from flooding. Apophoto went to Taitung County and reported the conditions in his blog.

被沖毀的台九線和柔腸寸斷的南迴鐵路，這也中斷了太麻裡以南的所有交通，金峰、達仁、大武因此成了孤島，將近兩萬人受困其中，只能以空投物資的方式來援助居民。

The flood destroyed route nine and the railroad. Therefore, for the area south to Taimali, there was no road connecting to the outside world. Jingfeng, Daren, and Dawu were cut off from the outside world now. Those twenty thousand people trapped in these villages could only rely on the supply dropped by helicopters.

上一次的海棠颱風也曾重創嘉蘭部落，衝垮十幾戶房舍，因此這次居民已學到教訓，在溪水暴漲前，都已緊急收拾家當撤離，也因此慶幸部落並沒有太多傷亡，但被水沖走衝倒的房子，卻是很多人一生的心血，只能流著淚看它潰堤。

Jialang village was hit by Typhoon Haitang not long ago, and more than ten houses were swept away at that time. The residents learned the lesson and prepared to leave before the flood. It is fortunate that not many people were hurt this time. Nevertheless, many people have spent their life time on their houses, and now they could only watch them swept away by the swollen river with tear.

The survivors are heart-broken, so many people try to cheer them up and help them to rebuild their home. A charity concert “Sing for Home” was held in Taipei on 15 of August. Here is the lyrics of one of the song:

也許有一天　有一天能跟隨你的腳步

踏上遙遠的　回家的路

回到老家　拿回泥土

還我土地　重建家園就是我啊

Maybe someday I will follow your steps

Follow the road and go back home

Go back home and hold the earth

Hold the earth and rebuild my home.

This is me.

Taiwan: Labors protested against unemployment on Labor Day

I-fan Lin — Sat, 09 May 2009 10:24:40 +0000

Chaotang took some photos on Labor Day showing the protest against unemployment. David had an article describing why the labors gathered.