Shitou Camp Solar Power Controversy 01"Important WWII military site actually being destroyed for solar power? Locals angrily accuse Pingtung County Government of shielding the developer, destroying historical assets

The Shitou Camp Fortress in Fangliao, Pingtung, is a military site built by Japanese forces during World War II to defend against Allied landings. In September last year, controversy erupted over solar power development destroying the site. Cultural heritage preservation advocates sharply criticized the Pingtung County Government for failing to designate the site as a provisional monument under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act to order the developer to halt work after the controversy broke out, instead allowing the developer to continue construction. With such a valuable site being destroyed, the Pingtung County Government bears undeniable responsibility.

The project owner is Shengli Energy, a subsidiary of Xingyao Energy. Xingyao Energy was originally the solar energy division of AU Optronics (AUO), and was further established through investment by Fubon Financial Holdings and Taiwan Life Insurance under CTBC Financial Holding. Cultural heritage advocates angrily pointed out that the Pingtung County Government and the company were playing a duet to stall for time. The company claimed externally that work had stopped, but in reality the first-phase solar panels at the project site were almost fully installed. Now with the second and third phases of development underway, if not stopped in time, it will cause a catastrophe for cultural heritage.

Local Pingtung County Councilor Chiang Yueh-hui harshly denounced AU Optronics and Xingyao Energy for using investors' and policyholders' money to "blast mountains to plant solar panels and destroy cultural heritage," showing a complete lack of corporate social responsibility. She will unite with related groups to launch a consumer movement to boycott AU Optronics and related enterprises such as Fubon and CTBC Financial.

Shitou Camp was a Japanese military fortress, bearing witness to Taiwan's WWII history

"Shitou Camp" is located on the north side of Fangliao Township. The name comes from a Qing dynasty military encampment. Shitou Camp was the starting point of the Jinshuiying Old Trail, opened after the Mudan Incident when the Qing court strengthened its administration of the eastern region.

In the late stages of WWII, with Japan's defeat already inevitable, the Allies sought a springboard to attack the Japanese mainland and to cut off Taiwan's food supply and the umbilical cord to resources in Southeast Asia. They formulated the "Plan Causeway," planning to land at Fangliao in Taiwan. To prevent the Allied landing, the Japanese military concentrated heavy forces, with total garrison troops across the island reaching over 200,000 at one point. According to historical records, the Japanese 50th Division was ordered to relocate to Fangliao and urgently construct fortress fortifications there. Because it was adjacent to Shitou Camp, the fortress took that name.

The Shitou Camp Fortress built by the Japanese military covers 103 hectares, with 36 machine gun bunkers and 10 artillery positions, filled with a dense network of tunnels. It bears witness to Taiwan's experience of Japan's "fortress-ization of the entire island" strategy and, like Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Peleliu, played a key role on the stage of WWII history.

Retired intelligence officer Lin Hsuan-yao transforms into an underground explorer, and the sleeping fortress sees daylight again

After WWII, the Nationalist military took over Shitou Camp Fortress. During the Cold War, the fortress became a Nationalist military base again. Later, after democratization and the easing of cross-strait tensions, the military decommissioned the fortress in 2005. After the turn of history, Shitou Camp Fortress was sealed off and forgotten.

In the summer of 2016, military researcher Lin Hsuan-yao, of Hakka descent from Neipu, re-explored Shitou Camp Fortress amid overgrown wilderness. Because the various positions within the fortress were connected by tunnels and had long fallen into disrepair, many sections of the underground tunnels had collapsed, posing a certain degree of danger.

Actually walking into the underground tunnels of the fortress, the air is thin and filled with dust. One must crouch to pass through to avoid hitting rocks. Bats flutter around in the caves from time to time. The tunnels twist and turn left and right, and one can easily get lost with a single misstep. Pile-driving by the solar plant nearby makes the risk of tunnel collapse even more worrying, and every step is taken with trepidation.

Lin Hsuan-yao plunged into Shitou Camp and could not pull himself away. Whenever he had time, he would drive south from Taipei to explore alone, conducting research for as long as four years without resources, and he knows the fortress inside out. Asked why he persisted, he said, "Fate has its own design. It's as if Shitou Camp foresaw it would face calamity and called me to help, to let the outside world understand the importance of Shitou Camp."

Lin Hsuan-yao revealed that perhaps it was the military intuition of a retired captain intelligence officer. As he shuttled between tunnels and positions exploring, it was as if he were personally on the battlefield. The shocking power of the historical scene made him feel "as if traveling through time and space, back to 1944 in the Pacific War."

Through Japanese military documents and the illustrated records taken over by the Nationalist military, Lin Hsuan-yao saw Taiwan's important position in Pacific War history and pieced together the full picture of Shitou Camp's history step by step. He brought out the defensive deployment plan recorded by Japanese military staff officers: "In response to the Allied forces landing at Fangliao, the entire division of 28,000 officers and soldiers was deployed with their backs to Mount Dawu, overlooking the Pingtung Plain. After the war began, the division had to resist for more than a year, so fortifications were dug into the mountain to face foreseeable naval gunfire and air raids."

"The natural landscape around the fortress and the thorny bamboo groves were camouflage deliberately laid by the Japanese military and are also part of the overall landscape. After the surrounding environment is developed, what meaning is there in leaving only reinforced concrete bunkers?" Lin Hsuan-yao argued repeatedly, demanding a full halt to construction, yet received no concrete response from the county government, and within half a year the developer continued development. In response, he said with deep anguish, "This is real history. If it is destroyed, how will we face the next generation?"

Cultural history experts: Building solar power at the site is shortsighted and profit-driven; the county government has no awareness of cultural heritage protection

Kuo Chi-ching, chairman of the Kaohsiung Old City Cultural Association, who came to support Shitou Camp, believes that this fortress bears witness to Taiwan's WWII history. "Cultural heritage itself may be broken walls and ruins, but the history carried by cultural heritage is a visible and tangible history textbook, part of Taiwan's irreplaceable historical memory." What enrages him is that, as the cultural heritage preservation authority, the Pingtung County Government has taken passive action, allowing precious historical assets to continue being destroyed.

In Kuo Chi-ching's view, Shitou Camp depicts not only Taiwan's history but also modern East Asian history. Although the Japanese side deployed heavy forces at Shitou Camp, the Allies at that time chose to skip Taiwan and directly capture Okinawa. The total military and civilian mobilization and deaths on Okinawa reached 200,000, of whom 120,000 were innocent civilians caught in the flames of war, making it the only battle during WWII in which civilian casualties exceeded military ones. Taiwan fortunately avoided the ravages of war, but Shitou Camp Fortress was sealed off as a result. He lamented that from a cultural heritage perspective, this outcome is "both a blessing and a curse."

Kuo Chi-ching emphasized that three years ago, during Wu Chin-fa's tenure as director of the Cultural Affairs Department, Shitou Camp Fortress had already been surveyed, but the cultural heritage reporting process came to nothing after Wu Chin-fa later stepped down. Unexpectedly, the county government not only took no action but also approved development without regard to the existence of cultural heritage when the developer applied to develop this case. Subsequently, cultural heritage groups launched a rescue effort, and the county government repeatedly used respect for private property rights as an excuse to stall and delay designating Shitou Camp as a "provisional monument" to order a halt to work. This made Kuo Chi-ching unable to restrain his anger: "The Pingtung County Government has a poor understanding of cultural heritage and lacks a sense of mission for cultural asset protection."

"The rarity and integrity of cultural assets, once destroyed, cannot be compensated for." Kuo Chi-ching lamented that solar power development is exempt from environmental impact assessment, and once destroyed, it cannot be remedied. The Shitou Camp case is proof enough. He believes the government must take remedial action and establish stricter review procedures for solar power site selection.

Taiwan-loving foreign son-in-law becomes a Youtuber to introduce Shitou Camp, lamenting that Taiwanese people do not value their own history

David is a foreign son-in-law living in Taitung, specializing in filming short Taiwan cultural tourism videos to introduce Taiwan to foreign tourists. For the Shitou Camp preservation movement, David has made multiple trips back and forth, and with partners filmed a short video uploaded to YOUTUBE to promote internationally that Taiwan has actually preserved a complete Japanese military fortress from the WWII period.

David believes that for international travelers, WWII historical sites are more important than fried chicken cutlets and milk tea. These cultural assets can transcend national borders and language. However, he also expressed understandable disappointment that most Taiwanese people do not know that Fangliao has actually preserved a complete Japanese military fortress from the WWII period, nor do they realize that this fortress represents a precious period of Taiwan's history, which he finds baffling.

County government: Everything handled according to law, calls on cultural heritage advocates not to take risks

The Pingtung County Government is the competent authority for cultural heritage, but in the Shitou Camp solar power case, the county government has repeatedly been criticized by cultural heritage advocates for deliberately delaying procedures and failing to designate Shitou Camp as a "provisional monument" as required, sitting by while the developer continued construction for half a year. In response, Lin Yang-chu, director of the Cultural Heritage Division, replied, "The county magistrate has instructed respect for the professional opinions of cultural heritage committee members and handling according to legal procedures."

Lin Yang-chu explained that after a cultural heritage report is filed, an on-site survey must be conducted according to procedures and a review process initiated. Before the review results are released, constitutional protection of private property rights must still be respected. As for cultural heritage advocates' demand that the developer fully halt work, he believes "the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act does not give such extensive power."

The public questioned that several years ago, during Wu Chin-fa's tenure as director of the Cultural Affairs Department, he had conducted a joint survey of Shitou Camp intending to report it as cultural heritage. In other words, the Cultural Affairs Department had long known that Shitou Camp had significant cultural heritage potential but did not list it for management. Lin Yang-chu responded that at the time it was Wu Chin-fa's "personal action," about which he was not clear, and that legally recognized cultural heritage must be publicly announced according to law to have effect. When the development application in this case was made, the authorities had no relevant information and could not prove Shitou Camp's cultural heritage status.

Lin Yang-chu added that during the cultural heritage survey process, scheduling was delayed due to accommodating the reporter's time and excessive public intervention. He believes civil groups should respect the cultural heritage committee members and the legal process. He further called on cultural heritage advocates not to arbitrarily lead the public into the fortress for exploration and tours. This not only violates private property rights but also raises safety concerns. The fortress tunnels have long been in disrepair, and if an accident occurs, no one will be able to take responsibility.