Following overnight protests that descended into violent clashes between demonstrators and police, the Taipei City Government yesterday evicted the owners of two buildings in Shilin District (士林), demolishing their homes to make way for an urban renewal project.
The project, under which a construction firm plans to turn an old residential complex for 38 households into a 15-story high-rise apartment complex, was stalled for three years because of opposition from a family surnamed Wang (王), who had lived in two two-story apartment buildings in the area for more than a decade.
As the city government prepared to demolish the two houses, more than 300 advocates of the Wang family rushed to the site late on Tuesday evening to show their opposition to the project, blocking the entrance to the houses, with some even chaining themselves in front of the buildings to stop the demolition.
Photo: CNA
More than 1,000 police officers arrived in the morning with barricades and shields.
Met with shouts of “Taipei City Government has no right” and “Protect land justice,” the police cut the protesters’ chains and dragged several away to clear the site for demolition, while evacuating members of the Wang family.
About 10 members of the Wang family left their homes later in the morning, accusing the city government of abusing its authority by tearing down their houses and vowing to continue the fight for freedom of abode.
“We’ve lived in these homes for decades and we do not want to move,” said Wang Yao-teh (王耀德), a family member.
“It’s not about the money and we did not demand NT$200 million [US$6.7 million] from the construction firm. We never wanted to participate in the urban renewal project from the very beginning,” he said.
Wang Yao-teh and the protesters said that the city government’s razing of their homes was illegal and unconstitutional, as the Constitution states that people’s rights to own a property and move freely should be protected.
As the demolition crew started tearing down the houses, about a dozen protesters stood on the rooftops of the buildings, displaying protest signs and chanting slogans denouncing the move.
“Everyone should voice their support for the Wang family and oppose the city government’s illegal action because anyone could be the next victim of an urban renewal project,” a protester surnamed Lee (李) said.
Although the family has refused to give up its land, the construction firm has already received the consent of more than 75 percent of the landowners on the block, and according to the Urban Renewal Act (都市更新條例), the firm can ask the city government to help it evict the Wangs and demolish their home.
The Wangs have done everything they could to prevent their homes from being demolished, including suggesting that their homes be excluded from the project.
Despite the opposition, the city government completed the demolition in the afternoon, which allows the construction firm to proceed with construction.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said the project was approved three years ago with the consent of the majority of the landowners, and it was the city government’s responsibility to enforce regulations and protect the rights of the majority.
“Only 5 percent of the landowners are against the project and 95 percent of the landowners have been waiting for more than three years in hopes of moving into a new home,” Hau said.
“It is our responsibility to project the rights of the majority of the landowners. We cannot sacrifice the rights of the majority of the landowners in this case,” the mayor said.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
RSS