Taiwancorpwatch

It Was a 'Fine' September for Taiwan Cement

In September 2005, the Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) was indicted on the charge of illegally dumping waste oil into the ground at its Hualien factory. According to a report from the Central News Agency, the corporation was charged with a fine of NT$2 million (approx. US$64,516) by the Hualien District Public Prosecutor's Office, and two of those found responsible were charged with two years imprisonment on suspicion of violating the Waste Disposal Act and breach of trust--Mr. Syu Sin-jun, the boss of TCC's waste handler Onyx Ta-Ho Environmental Services Co. Ltd., and Mr. Wei Jhe-fu, the section chief of public works.

The Liberty Times reported that Mr. Koo Cheng-yun (Leslie Koo of the powerful Koo family), who is chairman of TCC, Onyx Ta-Ho and other companies, was also indicted. The case came to light when Mr. Koo Tai-wei, the Onyx Ta-Ho employee who poured the waste oil into underground bomb shelters built during the Japanese occupation, came forward and confessed to the deed.

Related articles:

Taiwan Cement sued over waste, Taipei Times

China Times report on the September 2005 charges (Chinese)

The Suhua Highway

In its March 2005 report on the Suhua Highway project, the Taiwan Area National Expressway Engineering Bureau (TANEEB) calls the planned construction 'safe' and "sustainable". Since September 2004, however, The Grassroots Council for a Sustainable Taiwan (GCST), formed from 15 NGOs throughout the country, has listed the road as one of Taiwan's 24 environmental 'Danger Spots', owing to the ecological damage it does and will bring to the area, and the fact that it is inherently "unsustainable".

Environmental groups are not alone in their opposition to the project. A vote carried out on the County Government's Web site, and a survey by Hualien's National Dong-Hwa University, indicate high levels of opposition amongst the public (70 percent and 63 percent, respectively*). Intellectuals such as Chen Yi-ling (陳怡伶) from National Hualien Teachers College are writing prolifically to express their dismay and to refute the claims of the TANEEB and other proponents. Lawyers have repeatedly submitted evidence of a flawed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and pointed to the fact that the EIA has only been approved "conditionally". And in March 2005, Taiwan's Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長延) expressed concern about the lack of a cost-benefit analysis and the failure to heed the warnings of environmental groups (interpreted later by an Executive Yuan spokesperson as indicating a need for a new EIA).

Taiwancorpwatch's Mission

We aim to inform those interested in exposing and stopping the violence against the Taiwanese environment, as well as anyone who seeks the truth behind Taiwan's economic miracle, the real, ongoing miracle being how fast it is possible to turn a lush, beautiful island into a concrete wasteland oozing (Formosa Plastics, Taiwan Cement, China Petrochemical, RCA) chemical waste and shrouded in a mist of (Veolia Environmental) incinerator dioxins; or behind the enthusiasm of Taiwanese politicians for the further growth of the hi-tech (read hi-pollution, hi-waste) industry and generous investment in multinational visitors bearing gifts of nuclear power technology (and the accompanying radioactive waste) such as General Electric, Hitachi and Mitsubishi.

"Come and build your plants all around us and suffocate our communities,” they cry, “all we ask is that you take the time to drain our water tables and spew your toxic waste into our air, soil and sea while you’re here!”

And meanwhile, making little attempt to be inconspicuous, Taiwanese businesses are making their own contributions to the filthy concoction that surrounds us, intentionally spilling oil into the Taiwan Strait and turning land once tricked out of the hands of Taiwan’s aboriginal people into the gauging-grounds for monstrous cement factories (Asia Cement, Taiwan Cement)...

We aim to contribute to the growing international pool of research and sources for researchers, providing a reference tool and a forum for activists, reporters, the public and politicians, and a conscience for businesspersons where they lack one of their own. We hope to raise awareness about corporate irresponsibility and the real effects of the globalization that allows fickle transnational companies, aided by governments, to come when the climate is right and go as soon as they are offered cheaper labour or lower pollution fines elsewhere.

We welcome contributions, comments, alliances and support.