Miaoli's forced farmland expropriation adds another notorious case: Qiding's century-old farmland will become an industrial park

Preface: Ownership and cultivation rights taken away

After the forced expropriation of farmland in Dapu, Miaoli, the neighboring Qiding farmland faces the same fate. The Miaoli County Government plans to commission "Shuntian Construction" to develop more than one hundred hectares of state-owned land in Qiding Village, Zhunan Township, into an industrial park. But although this land is called "state-owned land," the local farmers are in fact third-generation cultivators whose ancestors came to Qiding more than one hundred years ago, moved aside stones, cleared roads and planted trees, and only then created this coastal agricultural area.

During the Japanese colonial period, the private land was forcibly designated as "protection forest land," and when the Nationalist Government came to Taiwan, it was designated as "state-owned land," so the landowners all became "tenant farmers" without property rights, and from the postwar period to the present they have continued farming by "leasing state-owned land."

The change of regime caused the farmers to lose ownership, and now, because of the Miaoli County Government's development plan, they are about to lose even their "cultivation rights," which has triggered strong protests from the farmers. The following is a related report by the Liberty Times, with other reference articles appended at the end. For the latest news on the Qiding farmland development case, please see the "Zhunan Qiding Self-Help Association" Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ChuNanQiDing

Generations of leasing state-owned land: more than one hundred farmers hold up banners in protest

Text/Liberty Times [Reporter Peng Jianli/Zhunan Report]

The county government plans to develop more than one hundred hectares of state-owned land in Qiding Village, Zhunan Township, into an industrial park, which has caused a backlash from farmers who have leased state-owned land for generations and who have formed a self-help association to defend their rights. The county government held a public hearing on the development case yesterday, and more than one hundred members of the self-help association held up white banners in protest, leading to shoving and clashes between police and citizens. Shen Youbin, director of the county government's Department of Industrial Development, said that holding the public hearing according to regulations was intended to listen to public opinion and serve as a reference for park planning.

Nearly 112 hectares, expected to be completed in 6 years

In July last year, the county government signed a contract with Shuntian Construction for the Zhunan Qiding Industrial Park development plan, designating nearly 112 hectares of park land, with nearly 70 hectares planned for industrial use, to bring in textile, electronic component, electrical equipment, computer and electronic product, optical product and other industries, with development expected to be completed in 6 years.

The county government estimates it can bring 7,100 job opportunities and create 80 billion yuan in output value, promoting vigorous development of Miaoli's industrial and commercial sectors and driving local prosperity. But on the development site there are more than 200 households of farmers who have leased and cultivated the land for generations, and the vast majority oppose it, forming a self-help association with the demand: "Oppose improper development, uphold land justice!"

Self-help association president Xie Wenchong said that this dune farmland in Qiding is where their ancestors reclaimed and cultivated the land as early as the Japanese colonial period, and through generations of land improvement it became an ecologically rich, cultivation-suitable farming and grazing area, and they have also moved toward refined, chemical-free, organic agriculture. Unexpectedly, the county government directly signed a development plan with Shuntian Construction to bring in highly polluting industry, which may damage the local environment and ecology.

A 91-year-old grandmother, Cai Yulian, also said that she has spent her whole life here growing vegetables, peanuts and watermelons, and hearing that the county government wants to take the land back has made her "unable to eat or sleep."

Yesterday the county government held the first public hearing on land expropriation for the development case, explaining the origin, process and land expropriation compensation matters to private landowners and state-owned land lessees, but the self-help association also held its own "briefing session" beside the public hearing venue and shouted "oppose expropriation, defend our homeland" in a contest with the county government.

As the public hearing neared its end, self-help association members entered the venue and held up white banners in protest. Because this disrupted the meeting procedure and order, police wanted to go forward and pull down the white banners, and shoving and clashes between police and citizens broke out. Seeing the situation spiral out of control, the county government also announced the meeting was over and left.

Shen Youbin, director of the county government's Department of Industrial Development, said the county government held the public hearing in accordance with the "Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects" and other regulations, hoping to fully communicate with the public and listen to public opinion as a reference for park planning, and that two more sessions, including a land expropriation public hearing and a public environmental impact explanation meeting, are expected to be held later.

As for land compensation, the county government said that private land is compensated according to the market price at the time of expropriation, state-owned land under 375 leases is compensated at one third of market price, and state-owned land under general leases receives no compensation. However, the county government is studying a relief payment compensation plan of 200 yuan per square meter for state-owned land under 375 leases and general leases.