Four farming households in Dabu, Guangdong face hardship and urgently appeal for help
The Miaoli "Dapu incident" of June 2010, captured in a single image of an excavator barging into a farm field, once caused a huge public outcry. In the blink of an eye three years have passed. Back then, under pressure from public opinion, then-Premier Wu Den-yih in August issued directives to the 24 households resisting in Dapu for "land reallocation back to farming" and "preservation of the original houses," and declared the matter "fully resolved"; yet to this day, 4 households have still not been granted preservation, and are about to face demolition in the coming days. Wu Den-yih's promise has plainly bounced!
In August last year I wrote The Four Dapu Households Still Not Fully Resolved to explain the situation of these four households and the origins of this expropriation case, when the case was about to be filed in court; however, while the court has not yet finished hearing the case and the legality of the expropriation has not yet been ruled on, the Miaoli County Government has now issued these four households an official document stating they should demolish their homes themselves before July 5 - a complete contempt for and challenge to Taiwan's judiciary!
After receiving the document, the four households began seeking help everywhere, and "Taiwan Rural Front" has also been holding solidarity activities, with much coverage in the media. On July 5, at the call of the "Rural Front," over a thousand people gathered at the Dapu site in support, forcing the Executive Yuan to convene an ad hoc meeting that evening with the Miaoli County magistrate to discuss the case. That day my mood was like a sauna - though I was not on site, my heart was hanging over Dapu and the Executive Yuan's evening meeting. From the excitement of seeing a thousand-strong crowd gather at Dapu in the morning, to the unease over the Executive Yuan meeting that might or might not be held in the evening, to the flood of tears after the meeting's conclusions were released at 9 p.m. - that day I received another lesson in Taiwan's "democracy," and the lesson was this: the roar of the Taiwanese people is, in the ears of politicians, nothing but a buzzing bee - annoying, but no threat at all!
(Repost) Volunteers sought
1. Dapu patrol volunteers
2. Dapu news volunteers
3. Dapu companion volunteers
Food and lodging provided, starting 7/5, shifts can rotate.
Contact: Lin Yi-fang, 0919-048980
Getting there on your own to "Zhang's Pharmacy"
Location: Intersection of Gongyi Road and Ren'ai Road, Zhunan, Miaoli
Detailed location on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/Ni0z7
Bus:
From Zhunan Railway Station, take any bus heading to Hsinchu
Get off at "Zhongdapu" (about 10 minutes)
Timetable for Taipei-to-Zhunan buses (exiting the freeway at Toufen)
Timetable for Zhunan-to-Hsinchu buses
Bus stop names and locations for Hsinchu-to-Miaoli routes
By car:
From National Freeway No. 3, exit at Xiangshan Interchange and head toward Gongyi Road
From National Freeway No. 1, exit at Toufen Interchange and go through the city center
(Zhang's Pharmacy is at No. 894 Ren'ai Road; the Zhu family house next door is No. 958 Gongyi Road)