Taiwan: Rice fields outside the Presidential Office
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 Houlong (後龍), Erlin (二林), Jhudong (竹東), Jhubei (竹北), and Tucheng City (土城).
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.
Ai-Wen Chen (陳藹文), a supporter who joined the overnight protest, explained why she joined the protest.
"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.
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?
"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. "
source: Global Voices
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