Charoen Pokphand controversy: A thousand people in Hualien and Taitung roar to save the last pure land, demanding CP Group get out of Hualien and the county magistrate face them
Yesterday (5/20), a surge of public anger erupted in Fenglin Township. The cause was CP Group's plan to build 6 or 7 chicken farms in Shoufeng, Fenglin, and Guangfu townships in Hualien County. The largest farm, with a scale of 200,000 birds, is located in Shoufeng, while the most densely clustered farms are located in the small town of Fenglin, which enjoys international "Cittaslow" certification. After residents learned the news, their shock turned to anger. Various townships and indigenous communities began organizing self-rescue associations one after another, and on May 20 they launched a major march, taking advantage of the public outreach time arranged by County Magistrate Hsu Chen-wei in Fenglin to present their petition directly to her.
The county government learned in advance that the opposition camp would march in protest, so it temporarily canceled the public outreach time. To quell public backlash, it issued a statement on the afternoon before the march: "If the company fails to communicate with residents and obtain their consent, we will 'consider' revoking the license." The opposition camp viewed this as a stalling tactic intended to weaken the march's rallying power, and resolved to hold the march as planned. That day they mobilized a thousand people onto the streets, making it arguably the largest environmental protest in Hualien in recent years.
Fenglin Self-Rescue Association: Rallying people from all walks of life around an independent bookstore, to reclaim the future of Hualien people
Hualien used to be jokingly called the "Republic of Hualien," with a "king and queen" ruling in turn (note), carrying the derogatory implication that "Hualien's civic power is weak, and political forces decide its fate at will." Yet this march startled even Hualien people themselves; to protect their living environment, they unexpectedly formed a powerful mobilization force. In particular, many residents of the Huatung Valley traveled across townships to lend support, and even people from as far away as Taitung and Taipei enthusiastically came to stand with them.
This march, arguably the largest environmental movement in Hualien in recent years, began with a group of returning young people and new immigrants who had moved to Hualien and Taitung connecting with one another, combined with community networks in the east and even intellectual exchange at universities. Its force spread like a prairie fire, igniting the anger and discontent that Hualien people had accumulated for so long.
Members of the Fenglin Self-Rescue Association come from all walks of life: a bookstore owner, a neighborhood chief, retirees, farmers and returning young people, community workers and a theater troupe leader, and the owners of a bento shop and a tofu pudding shop. Some of these people were regulars at a coffee shop, and others had long paid attention to local culture and public affairs. Brought together through an independent bookstore and cafe, they became the most important core group of this environmental movement.
Toyota Five Villages: Long bullied by environmental pollution, the chicken farms are the last straw
Toyota in Shoufeng Township, with its Japanese colonial-era immigrant village and later Hakka immigrants, has formed a unique settlement atmosphere. In the narrow sense, Toyota covers the three villages of Fengshan, Fengli, and Fengping; in the broader sense, the Toyota area also includes the two villages of Shuhu and Xikou. This is also where CP Group's earliest construction site, the Fengping chicken farm, and its largest chicken farm, the Shuhu chicken farm, are located.
Yang Fu-min, a staff member of the Niuli Community Exchange Association, believes Fengping is a rather tragic village. From the earliest landfill and cement plant to CP Group's chicken farm now knocking on its door, villagers have not been without resistance in the past; it is just that development projects kept coming one after another. After resistance proved futile, villagers were forced to accept compensation payments from the companies, and similar cases keep repeating.
Since the CP incident broke out in April, because Fengping Village had already accepted company compensation, its backlash was not as strong as that of other villages. However, a group of new immigrants who moved to Fengping became an emerging main opposition force. These new immigrants used to enjoy rural life by keeping to themselves, but now facing the threat of environmental destruction, they too had to quickly organize to protect the village and fight for their rights.
Large-scale chicken farms will squeeze the space for small local industries
Yang Fu-min pointed out, "Young people are slowly coming back, developing environmentally friendly agriculture, devoting themselves to village culture work, and through decentralized development creating a diverse industrial culture. CP Group's investment in building 7 or 8 large chicken farms in the valley will interfere with the existing decentralized development. A big company monopolizing the market will block opportunities for small industries."
However, for local elderly people, the arrival of chicken farms only brings to mind the stench. How can the democratic concept of industrial development be brought into community discussion? Yang Fu-min used the once-thriving Toyota jade and seedless watermelons as examples to explain to older villagers: "Jade has high output value, but only a few companies benefit, whereas seedless watermelons have a low threshold, and almost every farmer with land made money." With plain, easy-to-understand language, he got traditional elders to think deeply about the impact large chicken farms would have on the local area.
B&B operators: If Hualien's flavor goes off-key, will anyone still come?
The largest chicken farm in CP Group's investment this time is located in Shuhu Village in the Toyota area. This is at the foot of Laoshan, an offshoot of the Central Mountain Range, and also the higher-elevation water source area of Toyota. Whenever there is heavy rain, landslides inevitably occur. Village Chief Peng Jung-hua has to patrol the small path along the mountain foot anxiously every typhoon season, yet due to administrative oversights, the area has still not been designated as a landslide-prone zone. He worries that once CP Group moves in, major construction will be inevitable, and if it triggers an even bigger disaster, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Since the CP Group development case broke out, Peng Jung-hua has been quite angry and firmly refuses CP Group's lobbying. Peng said that all of Toyota has more than a hundred B&B operators. The tourism atmosphere created by the beautiful environment attracts many visitors and also makes residents proud, but now because of CP Group, the reputation of this beautiful environment could be ruined overnight.
"CP Group's massive investment in Hualien cannot be compared on the same platform for people who moved to Hualien seeking a new life. Setting up a chicken farm with a scale of 200,000 birds here will change the village and destroy other people's choices. This is unfair," said B&B operator Tang Mei-yuan.
Tang Mei-yuan, who has more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry, is a descendant of a Forestry Bureau employee from Lintianshan in Hualien. He went to Taipei to develop his career when he was young, and 15 years ago decided to return to Hualien to settle down. He was determined to find a remote place "with no village ahead and no shop behind," and finally found Shuhu Village at the foot of the mountain. He spent 10 million yuan to build his ideal home, running a B&B and living a life detached from the world.
"Modern people live lives that are too tense and busy. Coming to Hualien, they hope to find an atmosphere where they can completely relax and quietly watch the mountains and the changes in the mist and clouds." With his travel industry perspective, Mr. Tang believes that CP Group's investment in six or seven farms will affect the direction of all of Hualien and destroy its unique environment and pace of life.
Tafalong and Mafo communities in Guangfu Township: Hualien is the last pure land, how can you bear to destroy it?
The site CP Group set up in Xifu Village, Guangfu Township, is right next to the Mafo community. The local community is also quite nervous about the impact after the chicken farm is established. Chang Hsiu-chen, director-general of the Green Field Fragrant Slope Rural Development Association, who has devoted 10 years to community building, believes that the community has promoted eco-tourism and environmentally friendly farming, and has also used local soil to develop a pottery workshop, achieving modest results. Now that CP Group is moving in, 10 years of community building may come to nothing.
Chang Hsiu-chen believes that the Huatung Valley welcomes small farmers who are friendly to the environment and wants to develop ecological and cultural tourism, but if large corporations move in and change the existing pace of life, "if the east becomes more and more like the west, will anyone still be willing to travel to the east?" She is even more puzzled: "Hualien is the last pure land, how can you bear to destroy it?" Chang revealed the community's current mood: "No matter how much the company advertises its high technology, it has too many bad records in the past, and residents are still very worried." In particular, the elderly in the community cannot hide their anxiety, which makes her heart ache.
Related Articles
- How to prevent and control rabies in dogs? Timely vaccination of puppies ensures safety
- How to Explore Keelung's Fishing Port Docks? Practical Tips for Picking Fresh Seafood
- The Slow Food movement advocates that how you eat matters more than what you eat, helping you eat your way to health
- How to Identify Inferior Cooking Oil? Key Points for Quality Control from Cultivation to Purchase
- Which agricultural activities require tax payment? The ranch court case clarifies the boundary of tax exemption
- Ractopamine, a lean meat agent, is banned; scientific pig farming to increase lean meat percentage is the right path
- Horizontal Windbreak Nets for Welsh Onion Cultivation in Winter Reduce Losses
- Top Ten Fungicides Ranking Released, a Useful Reference for Farmers Choosing Products