The Changhua County Government yesterday suspended power and water supply to a former Buddhist temple that was converted into a shrine to Chinese communism by a local businessman, and said it would demolish illegal buildings on the property next week.
Former military officer Wei Ming-jen (魏明仁), who works in construction, acquired a Buddhist temple in the county’s Ershuei Township (二水) seven years ago. He ousted the temple’s four nuns and began flying the national flag of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the complex.
The New York Times on Wednesday called Wei’s actions a move to establish “an extravagant shrine to China’s communist party.”
Photo: CNA
Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) yesterday at a news conference in the county rejected claims by some locals and county councilors that his inaction on the issue and was “a shame on Taiwan,” saying that they were not aware of the entire story.
Wei Ming-jen, as a Taiwanese, has a right to freedom of speech, Wei Ming-ku said.
However, Wei Ming-jen’s illegal occupation of the temple and use of the area to promote Chinese political ideology has slandered national dignity and camaraderie, he said.
As such, the county government is to suspended power and water supply to the temple, Wei Ming-ku said.
Later yesterday, the county government dispatched a Department of Economic Affairs official surnamed Chao (趙) to accompany Taiwan Power Co (台電) and Taiwan Water Corp (台水) employees to the temple to sever service in preparation for next week’s demolition.
Because the complex straddles two plots of land zoned for different purposes, some of its buildings are legal and others are not, department Director Liu Yu-ping (劉玉平) said.
Buildings on 5,300m2 of land are to be demolished on Wednesday next week, Liu said, adding that the department would handle the other illegal buildings at a later date.
However, the move to demolish the complex might meet with some procedural snags, as the temple, which was built in 1920, was given historic status on Tuesday last week.
The temple and surrounding areas comprising 936m2 of land is now a heritage site, county Department of Cultural Affairs Director Chou Fu-yi (周馥儀) said.
Prior to the local government’s severing of power and water service, Wei Ming-jen yesterday told a separate news conference that he has never recognized the validity of the Republic of China government, and he aims to overthrow it.
Anyone violating his property would be “severely punished by the motherland” once both sides of the Taiwan Strait are unified, he said.
Police later took Wei Ming-jen in for questioning on the grounds that he obstructed civil servants from carrying out their duties by allegedly throwing punches at a Department of Economic Affairs official surnamed Tung (董).
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique