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Shanyuan Bay protest information.

This page has been created to document the history and current state of Shanyuan Bay, Taitung.

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News

General links

Media

  • Resort executive office deputy manager Chu Ying-chou (朱膺州) has been the spokesperson for Meiliwan. Contact information?

Miramar Resort
Public Relations Manager
Olivia Jane Yuting
0976-191-281
olivia.jian14 @ gmail.com

Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Taiwan
Tel: (02) 2382-5789
Phone :0919 -231-814
Fax: (02) 2382-5810
Association Address: 10045 Chongqing South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, while No. 86 12
12F, 86 Chongcing South Road Section 1 Taipei 10045, Taiwan

Corporate connections

Chinese

  • Durban 德安集團
  • Mayer 美亞鋼管 http://www.mayer.com.tw/company/company-english.htm
  • Fullchamp 富成金屬科技股份有限公司
  • Miramar Group 美麗華集團
  • Tax ID - tongyi bianhao - 統一編號
  • Tze Shin Group - 志信集團 or Tze Shin International Co Ltd 志信國際 (They're investors in Miramar) Huang Chun-Fa is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and also Chairman of Durban. Tze Shin located at http://www.tsgroup.com.tw/

Video

Related news - stories not about Meiliwan but relevant nonetheless

Environmental Impacts

Chronology

  • 2004: BOT contract signed
  • 2005: Developers apply for expansion of land to be used from .9 hectares to 6 hectares (not quite sure of this point - was it an expansion, or an amalgamation of several smaller plots? This from a TT article: "Although the entire resort — including the hotel building and other facilities — occupies an area of 59,956m2, the county government had initially allowed the Miramar Group to divide the project site into different areas, so that no single area is more than 1 hectare because the law requires any construction project over that size to go through an EIA process)")
  • 2006: Four EIA's were conducted - all of which Miramar failed. Panel appointments run for two years, so at that time Council unable to manipulate results due to being stuck with pre-existing panel memebers, including Professor Jang Chang Yi from National Taiwan University who strongly opposed the resort on environmental grounds and also adhered to the principle that EIA's need to be conducted before construction has started.
  • 2007 July: The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) ruled that an EIA had to be conducted and that the already-started construction was illegal and that it had to be stopped until it received approval from an EIA
  • 2007 Aug: environmental groups successfuly take Miramar to court on the grounds that their building license was invalid without an EIA. Although they had failed the EIA four times but were continuing to build. Miramar appeals the decision.
  • 2008 Jan 23:Supreme Court rejects Miramar's appeal and orders construction to stop on the grounds that they didn't have a valid building license as they hadn't passed and EIA.
  • 2008 June: Fifth EIA is conducted and this time Miramar passes. Several members from previous panels that opposed the resort on environmental grounds were removed from panel and replaced by resort supporters.

2008: Law suit filed to challenge the validity of the EIA. High Court finds against hotel, but they appeal. 2009: Case goes to the Supreme Court.

  • 2010 Sep 7: High Court rules that construction must be stopped on the hotel on the grounds that they don't have a valid license; hotel appeals (?) and construction doesn't stop (needs verification)
    • "The Taitung County Government is suspected of illegally segmenting the land to avoid the need for an environmental impact assessment. After being sued by local residents and with a court ruling last year ordering a halt to construction, the county government -nevertheless authorized construction and issued licenses to the developer." from http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/07/11/2003507953
  • 2011, June 10: Yu Wen has a few drinks one night in May with Ai Ching and other friends and fed up with the joint council-Miramar's disregard for the environment or the law,suggests they go to beach to camp there and symbolically reclaim it. They do so, and camp there for a month, building a daluan, staging an exhibition, a press conference, and finally a concert. (This proved to be a crucial action in turning the tide agains Mirmar)
  • 2012 Jan 19: Supreme Court orders all work on hotel stopped immediately due to flawed environmental impact assessment (EIA). "The court found the review flawed because five out of the 15 members on the environmental impact assessment committee organized by the county government were government officials, including then county chief Kuang Li-chen and her deputy Peng Teh-cheng." (http://is.gd/YtpvcA)
  • 2012 Feb 13: Follow up ruling from Supreme Court reafirms that their building license is invalid.
  • June 2, 2012: Taidong Govt and Miramar hotel attempt to rush through new EIA. Meeting protested and disrupted by environmentalist groups. Decision delayed.
  • June 2012. Members of the Taiwan East Coast Preservation Alliance (Tecpa)gather on beach to build a talu'an (Amis for 'resting place', a shelter built from driftwood, bamboo, and palm tree branches)
  • July 21-29, 2012: Week long camp-in protest staged on Shan Yuan Beach. Culminated in concert on 7/28 which was attended by over 1000 people. Although it was staged with two typhoons threatening the island throughout the week, the weather Gods somehow smiled on the event and provided a perfect day for the concert on 7/28. Typhoon Saola did come on-shore shortly after and swallowed whole the talu'an.
  • Sep 19, 2012: Activist gather at Shan Yuan Beach to assemble a protest-art installation but are blocked by Miramar Management who called the police, who in turn threatened to arrest anyone who participted in the building of the installation. This was a marked difference from previous confrontations where the police had tended to remain on the sidelines.
  • Sep 21, 2012: New court decision handed down that the rules the hotel's building license was illegally granted and is thus invalid on the grounds that you can't get a building license for a project of that size without first undergoing an EIA. (http://news.rti.org.tw/index_newsContent.aspx?nid=379147)
  • Oct 2012: Central govt asks Taidong Council to 'resolve the issue' within 45 days. Taidong council pushes ahead with new EIA. Note: panel is convened by Taidong Council. Panel again open to stacking with people favoring the hotel.
    • List of panel appointments:
    • ZHANG Ji-yi Chairman
    • Huang Mingen Vice chairman
    • Hsu did Committee
    • Liu Rongtang Committee
    • ZengLiang Committee
    • Hu Xueyan Committee
    • CL Hsu Committee
    • Huang Wenbin Committee
    • Lin Qican Committee
    • Wu Junzhe Committee
    • Zhou Zhiru Committee
    • Liao Qiurong Committee
    • Cai Junhong Committee
    • HUANG Yi-help Committee
    • Eric Chen Committee

(NOTE: the first meeting was cancelled because they couldn't get a quorum, and at the second they only got 8. Which was considered to be a quorum. There are 15 members on the panel. Curious that 7 people were appointed as environmental experts to a committee deciding the fate of one of Taiwan's best beaches and yet they couldn't be bothered to turn up on either occasion.)

  • Nov15-18: Protest activity at Taidong Surfing Competition as protest movement moves towards creating a presence at various events around Taiwan. (previously had runners and protesters at Hualien marathon, Oct 2012)
  • Nov29: A meeting of the EIA panel, which had been slated for this day and for which a large protest rally had been mobilized, was mysteriously 'postponed'. The official reason was that not enough members of the panel were able to attend, but questions remain as to why they didn't attend. A petition is signed by over 700 academics attesting to the environmental destruction caused by the hotel. None of these academics are permitted to sit on the EIA panel
  • 2012, Dec 23: EIA panel convenes. 8 (out of 15) members attend, all of whom unanimously endorse the resort. Protesters gather to register opposition and claim that the process was corrupt.
  • 2013, March: Protesters announce plans for a walk from Miramar to Taipei where a concert and protest rally will be held.
  • 2013, April 4: Activists begin walk to Taipei. Plan to arrive on April 20 for rally and concert.
  • Activists complete walk and stage mass protest march through streets of taipei and concert at ketagalan (estimates of 5-10 thousand at rally despite rain). Large aboriginal presence at rally making it one of the biggest aborignal based protests in Taiwan's history.
  • 2014, High Court invalidates Miramar's EPA. Miramar lodges appeal to Supreme Court. Court orders a cessation to all building and commercial activity at Miramar until case is heard.
  • 2015: Coastal Protection Law is formulated and processed through parliment. This law will zone coastal land as 'class 1' protected land or 'class 2' protected land. It has become known as the 'Mei Li Wan law'. Development in these zones would be limited to public infrastructure, coastal management buildings (such as look-outs), or be legally restricted in terms of size or impact. Both classes would clearly prohibit mega-resort developments.
  • 2015 March (?) A 26 hectare plot is cleared and landscaping operations begin in readiness to build a new mega-resort in the foothills of Dulan Mountain, just north of Miramar. Plans have been tentatively approved by the Taitung local government pending an EIA. The plans are for a 550 bed jumbo-resort designed primarily to cater for tour bus tourists. Unlike Miramar, it is to be built on privately aquired land. This paricular tract of land is well known to be landslide prone during typhoons. The developers, Shanyuan Palms Holiday Villas, and the Taitung Govt are in a race against time to gain approval before the above Coastal Protection Law is passed.
  • 2015, July 27: An emergency meeting of the Fan Fan Fan group is convened and determines to send a delegation to Taipei to protest at EPA meeting set for July 29.
  • 2015, July 29: A vocal group of activists led by local aboriginal enities surrounding the proposed development site and supported by environmentalists protest on the steps of EPA offices. After the meeting, it is announced that Shanyuan Palms Holiday Villas development must halt operations pending the institution of the Coastal Protection Law. (newspaper article above), which will determine its zoning and subsequent building restrictions.
  • 3015, Nov 5: Murder-suicide at a meeting of the Durban Holdings owners that resulted in the death of three brothers, members of a prominent Taipei family which owns the Miramar Resort. Huang Ming-huang (黃明煌) and Huang Ming-jen (黃明仁) were killed by bullet wounds to the head, allegedly fired by their younger brother, Huang Ming-te (黃明德)
  • 2016, March 30: Supreme Court rejects Miramar's appeal against high court decision that ruled latest EIA invalid due to procedual improprieties and conflict of interests by some panel members.
  • 2016, April 8: Meeting with lawyer and anti-Miramar group to discuss supreme court ruling. Was announced that Miramar have indicated that they will not attempt to conduct another EIA, effectively spelling the end to the hotel. They are now trying to negotiate a wihtdrawal settlement and are asking for compensation of 360 billion NT - their supposed lost earnings - not bad considering they were only paying NT 30 000 rent per month! Lawyer restated basic point that 'you can't knowingly commit a crime and then try to sue the people because you got caught'
  • 2016, April 12: Lawyer for anti-Miramar group appointed assistant Minister for EPA

Main points

  • If the Meiliwan hotel is allowed to open, it will have a domino effect resulting in destructive development along the entire east coast.
  • The licensing process has been flawed on many fronts.
  • The aboriginal tribes were not consulted and they did not give their consent to the project, as required by law.
  • The environmental impact report was illegal in that five of the fifteen members of the committee worked for the county government (the country govt. is a partner in the project) creating a conflict of interest. They also failed to provide sufficient details of how they would dispose of waste products.

The protest alliance advocates the following - This section needs to be checked for accuracy.

This section has been taken from the translated Chinese document. It needs to be checked for accuracy.

  • Stop all construction
  • Return the land and ocean to it's original (pre-construction) state
  • Stop all inappropriate development on the east coast and establish a legal framework for future development
  • Resist destructive tourism

Skype recording:

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Page last modified on October 24, 2020, at 07:18 PM