Calling the building of a beachfront Miramar Resort at Taitung County’s Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) the most ridiculous hotel in the nation’s history, artists yesterday said that a music festival against the construction will be held at the beach on July 28.
Several artists gathered in Taipei to announce their support for and voluntary participation in a music festival against the Miramar Resort and in support of protecting the natural eastern coastline.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan, the organizer of the event, said the High Administrative Court had ruled the resort’s construction permit was invalid in 2010 and the Supreme Administrative Court reached a verdict ruling its environmental impact assessment (EIA) as invalid in January this year, but construction continues and the local government even held an EIA meeting last month.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
“Should we allow the first domino to fall down [referring to completion of the construction], leading to a grey [covered with concrete] coastline in eastern Taiwan?” music critic Chang Tieh-chih (張鐵志) said, adding that the issue is not only relevant to Taitung County, but also to Taiwanese values.
Aboriginal folk singer Panai said the huge “concrete monster” would destroy the environment and the traditional domain of local Aborigines. She added that it needed to be explained how people who interpret the laws can ignore reality.
“We are all just people passing through the land and we will die one day ... so we can only try again and again to do what is right for the land,” she said, urging more people to stand up against the illegal construction project and to protect the ocean.
Growing up at the seaside in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Rueifang District (瑞芳), rock band The Chairman vocalist A-chi (阿吉) said he had fond childhood memories of playing on the beach with friends, but after many concrete tetrapods were placed on the shore a few years ago, the beautiful environment has totally changed.
“The government should protect the natural beaches for everyone and especially for children to play at,” he said.
Taiwan pop/rock band FIR vocalist Faye (飛) said she is especially fond of the nation’s beautiful natural scenery and insisted on standing up to help protect the natural beach at Shanyuan Bay after visiting there last year.
“We should learn to respect nature as it was created,” she said. “We human beings have taken too much from nature, but given back too little in return.”
“I hope young people in Taipei City can go visit Shanyuan Bay this summer, to see what in Taiwan is worth treasuring and protecting, and to think about what we want to save,” popular indie-pop singer/songwriter Deserts Chang (張懸) said. “The government should use its policies to preserve these places, instead of avoiding obligations and finding regulation loopholes, and leaving those people who are truly concerned about the environment debating endlessly.”
Aboriginal folk singer Nabu said civic groups and artists will camp on the beach from Saturday through July 28. They plan to set up exhibitions about the history of the area, hold discussion forums under the stars, and teach traditional Amis crafts and raft building. Anyone who is interested is welcome to join them.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS