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44-523: In 2003, the Taitung County Government received Central Government permission to employ the BOT model to demolish the change room and camping facilities at Shanyuan/Fudafudak and build a ‘theme restaurant’ and new change-room facilities in conjunction with a private partner. This was unusual as BOT schemes are generally reserved for major infrastructure projects such as subway systems and toll roads . At

88-466: A News Lens article, Hsu went to Taitung as a peaceful place to write, staying at a residence near Shanyuan/Fudafudak: “Lin Yunko noticed unusual going-ons at the peaceful bay in front of him. A large security fence was erected, and workers began entering and exiting, seemingly planning to build something large.” Lin Yunko then met one of his neighbors in the region, Hsu Lan-hsian, who also had concerns about

132-537: A contract with Miramar Resort Ltd for the rights to manage Shanyuan/Fudafudak and build an 80-room resort. The building to land coverage ratio was 6.5% and the floor to land ratio was 19.8%. Miramar was required to pay a royalty fee of NT$ 5 million (@ NT$ 100 000 per year, US$ 3125) for the management rights, as well as 2% of yearly earnings to the Taitung Government. Furthermore, the resort building as well as beach usage rights would be transferred back free of charge to

176-507: A maximum of 80-rooms. Two months later, Miramar/Durban was chosen as the best applicant (it is unclear if there were other tenders), whereupon Huang Chun-fa (and/or his representatives) obtained the right to negotiate the contract. A consortium called Miramar Resort Taitung Ltd (美麗灣度假村股份有限公司) was formed that included a 45% investment stake by Naruwan Hotel (娜魯灣飯店), owned by Lin Yen-huang (林炎煌). In December 2004, Magistrate Hsu Ching-yuan signed

220-604: A national level. From that meeting, a press conference was called for April 29, where Lin Zih-lin (林子凌), Secretary General of Wild at Heart, and TEPU Secretary General Hou Jhongshun 何宗勳, outlined the history of the case including land division and waste disposal irregularities . Environmental lawyer Thomas Chan and Legislator Lin Shu-fen also attended. Following this meeting, the TEPU held activities on Shanyuan/Fudafudak beach and filed reports with

264-482: A new section, 346–4, with an area of 0.9997 hectares, which would serve as the construction base of the hotel. In December 2006, with the basic structure of the 5-floor building nearing completion, Miramar proposed to modify the project into three stages, taking the near-finished part as the first stage, to be followed by 2nd & 3rd construction stages. The building coverage ratio and floor to area ratio increased from 6.5% to 19.69% and 19.8% to 48.54% respectively. As

308-502: A result of the 921 earthquake , business almost hit rock bottom.” Apart from the economic difficulties following the impact of 921, Business Today reported that in 2000, Huang Chun-fa's “(Durban) department store has accumulated losses for five years; last year NT$ 400 million ... and Daily Air has lost NT$ 500 million." Durban Development successfully applied to rebuild a 12-story office block called Miramar Securities Financial Building (美麗華證券金融大樓). Before opening, Miramar Securities

352-664: A time of raised awareness in Taiwan regarding natural heritage and indigenous rights, and coinciding with the advent of social media. Two of the first to draw attention to the development were Hsu Lan-hsiang (徐蘭香) and Lin Yunko (林雲閣). Lin is an investigative journalist who'd reported on the 1997 hillside collapse of the Lincoln Mansions (林肯大郡) (an apartment block) in Sijhih (汐止) that killed 28 residents. Subsequently, he developed an interest in inappropriate slope-land construction. According to

396-452: Is 35.7%. In east coast villages outside Taitung city, the figure is around 50% or higher, mostly consisting of Amis tribe members. Within the 16 indigenous ethnic groups, the buluo (indigenous village) functions as the central mechanism of indigenous culture. Before and during colonization, buluo formed and settled in particular geological areas suitable for habitation. (Chen 2015) Having experienced an accumulating period of cultural weakening,

440-449: Is the local government of Taitung County , Taiwan . 22°45′20″N 121°09′02″E  /  22.7555°N 121.1506°E  / 22.7555; 121.1506 This article related to government in Taiwan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Huang Chun-fa Huang Chun-fa ( Chinese : 黃春發 ; pinyin : Huáng Chūnfā ; born 1957) is a Taiwanese businessman and son of Huang Rong-hua (黃榮華), one of

484-463: The China Post reported: “Luckily for the group, they didn't need to purchase land...The Tourism Bureau decided to provide land to private investors using the build, operate transfer (BOT) model. After 50 years, these hotels are required to be returned to the government... The powerful Miramar Group - which controls a wide range of businesses ... from department stores to real estate to petrol stations -

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528-535: The Civil Aviation Administration for subsidies. The Civil Aviation Administration sent an auditor to the airport maintenance facility to check the application, and did not find the listed items listed in the subsidy application.” The over-reported costs allegedly included “maintenance costs, and special private expenses” . After questioning, Huang Chun-fa was released on bail of NT$ 3 million. This Taiwanese business–related biographical article

572-637: The Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), the Tourism Bureau and the Construction and Planning Agency. According to News Lens: “For the first time (the Miramar protest) began to connect with a wider network of groups and gain mainstream media interest.” On July 26, 2007, Wild at Heart lawyer Chen Bo-chou (陳柏舟), working with input from Thomas Chan, assisted the TEPU (as plaintiffs) in launching

616-630: The Fugang, Fushan, and A'tolan buluos. Apart from organizing the earliest on-site protest gatherings, TEPU began laying a paper trail of permit violations, filing reports with the Tourism Bureau, the Urban and Rural Development Office, as well as the Central Government's Administrative Yuan's Environmental Protection Association (EPA) and the Control Yuan (Ombudsman), and having the Miramar situation raised in

660-688: The Huang clan, which controls the Miramar Group" . Whereas other branches of the Miramar Huang family have led high-profile lives played out through the media, Business Today noted, "the style of the Huang Jung-hua (branch of) Huangs has always been low-key." In 2004, Huang Chun-fa's companies were quietly awarded government hotel construction/management tenders in Taipei, Hsinchu and Taitung: Two years later

704-705: The Legislature (by Legislator Lin Shu-fen ) in April 2007. They also participated in the Citizen Litigation suits. One of the violations uncovered in TEPU's research related to a land merging-division application for the site. On February 21, 2005, Miramar representatives and officials from the Taitung County Government Tourism Bureau (renamed Urban and Rural Development Office) agreed to merge land sections 348 and 346-2 then re-divide them to create

748-446: The Miramar hotels (Taipei Gardens 台北美麗信花園酒店, Hsinchu Miramar 新竹美麗信花園酒店, and Taitung Miramar Resort 台東美麗灣酒店), and other businesses. Until recently, Huang owned Daily Air Corporation , a small fleet of six planes servicing Penghu islands (off the coast of Kaohsiung), as well as Orchid and Green Islands (off the coast of Taitung), but the company's shares were gradually sold off to Huang employee, Kuo Tze-hsin (郭自行) whereupon Kuo became

792-595: The TEPU hired Lin Yun-ge as a full-time secretary to investigate the construction, report potential building violations to relevant government bodies, and write articles. The Taitung chapter of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) was headed by Professor of Natural Sciences, Liu Jhong-si (劉炯錫) Professor of Geography Liao Chiu-er 廖秋娥, and Yang Tsung-wei (楊宗緯), an ex-railway engineer and Taitung museum curator. The group originally formed to protest

836-546: The Taipei Times reported: "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." On January 12, 2007, an EIA panel

880-403: The beach, which was strongly denied by the industry” . In response, on August 16, 2007, representatives for Durban/Miramar and Taitung Council Speaker, Li Jin-hue (李錦慧), invited EPA officials and the media to the site for an “inspection and excavation.” Backhoes dug "ten large holes in the beach, over an approximate area of 250 square meters, but no construction waste was found.” Regarding

924-400: The competent authority supervising the legality of the project. Construction began on March 28, 2005. Whereas the northern, western, and southern coastlines of Taiwan have seen land development leading to degradation of the coastal environment, the southeast coast's rugged natural beauty also renders it the least accessible to large developers. According to Lonely Planet : This status as

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968-472: The county government after 50 years. In addition to management rights, the Taitung Government agreed to lease Shanyuan/Fudafudak to Miramar/Durban at the nominal rate of NT$ 30 000 (US$ 938) per month in order to facilitate the profitability of the project. According to the Ministry of Finance's BOT guidelines, Miramar was required to “provide sustainable and quality public service.” The Taitung Government would be

1012-486: The deal. Wong died during the proceedings, while Huang was acquitted. In 2004, Huang's enterprises experienced a boost when they swept a trifecta of government BOT tenders for hotel constructions in Taipei, Hsinchu, and Taitung. Unlike the Miramar Taipei Gardens and Miramar Hsinchu, which were city blocks, Taitung Miramar Resort was built on a popular public/indigenous territory beach called Shanyuan/Fudafudak at

1056-467: The development. Hsu, who had “settled in the northern Tulan village near Shanyuan Bay, looking for a pure source of water for her craft-brewed vinegar ”, had been involved in environmental protests from her home county of Hsinchu, and was a member of the Taitung chapter of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU). After discussing the issue with Lin, Hsu raised the topic at a TEPU meeting. In April 2007,

1100-512: The first Citizen Litigation, challenging the validity of Miramar's building permit on the grounds that it had been issued without having passed an EIA. On August 1, another press conference was held by Lin Zih-lin and Chen Bo-chou (Wild at Heart), legislator Lai Shin-yuan , TEPU representatives, Liu Jhong-si, Lin Yunko, and Ho Tsung-shun 何宗勳, and lawyer Thomas Chan. Apart from reiterating the land division irregularities, “they used on-site photos to accuse Miramar of directly burying building waste on

1144-487: The founding brothers of the Miramar Group conglomerate and the Miramar Huang family (美麗華黃家). According to a China Post report, “The Miramar Group consists of subdivisions owned by different members within the giant, extended Huang family”. Within this structure, Huang Chun-fa is the owner of Durban Development Company (德安集團) (construction), Tze Hsin 志信) (transportation and gas stations), Mayer Steel Pipe Corporation (“Taiwan Mayer” 美亞鋼管), Durban Department Store (德安百貨), and

1188-565: The giant, extended Huang family” In early 2004, Durban Development Company became involved in the Shanyuan/Fudafudak redevelopment bidding process. From this point, the land usage purpose entered an adjustment period. Durban's proposal included, in addition to the restaurant and change rooms, a 50-room hotel. In July 2004, the Taitung County Government announced the project description had been adjusted to “seaside resort”, with

1232-572: The joint government/private BOO Taitung Incinerator. After listening to Hsu's and Lin's concerns regarding Miramar, TEPU hired Lin as a secretary to investigate the construction and file reports with the relevant authorities. At the same time, the TEPU connected with members of the surrounding indigenous buluos , including traditional custodians, Lin Shu-ling and her mother, (Da) Panay (Lin Jing-ti 林金蒂), and Amis boat builder, Long-ge (賴進龍), as well as members of

1276-450: The last stretch of undeveloped coastline, much of it "nationally designated traditional territory of the Amis tribe" (Chen, 2015) presented two sides of the coin: both reason for conserving the area, and reason for development in that it is following precedent. As Deputy Speaker Chen noted: "If Kenting has been allowed to cover the beach with hotels, why can't we do it Taitung?" Kenting to

1320-592: The law”, a building permit was issued, making it a legally pre-constructed building, or at least "definitely not substantially illegal". Wild at Heart Taiwan is a volunteer environmental lawyer organization founded by Robin Winkler . In April 2007, Lin Yunko from the Taitung TEPU traveled to Taipei for a meeting with members of Wild at Heart as well as the national arm of TEPU looking for strategic and legal input from groups experienced in dealing with environmental issues on

1364-615: The mid-1990s saw the beginning of a resurgence amongst indigenous communities in Taitung. (Futuru 2010) The Fudafuduk/Shanyuan area is inhabited by the Tse-tung (Erythrina) buluo from the Amis tribe. The annual Amis ocean worship festival, Palaylay (Ilisin, 海祭), is held on the beach during summer. The sheltered coral reef bay provides a food gathering resource, and serves as a training ground for youth in food identification, fishing, diving, and boating skills. Significant archeological sites are located in

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1408-440: The previously photographed rubble, a Miramar spokesperson said: “I am afraid it was planted." The spokesperson also accused unnamed professors of “dismantling a Miramar signboard by fierce means” as well as “hindering the development of Taitung” , saying: “Academics have a responsibility to display a sense of right and wrong; not to be engaging in small-minded acts. They should adopt a professorial style so people can respect

1452-667: The profession. Otherwise they will provoke disgust and be cast aside.” Two days later, on August 18, large waves brought on by passing Typhoon Sepat revealed blocks of construction rubble on the beach at a site not excavated during the media event. On the 28th of August, the Taitung County Industrial Development & Investment Promotion Committee (TCID&IPC) staged a counter-protest at Taitung University, where TEPU conveners Liu Jhong-si and Liao Chiu-er worked. Following Typhoon Usagi in September 2013, more rubble

1496-457: The resort was legal. This was done by arguing that the project should be seen as separate, evolving “stages”, with the 2nd and 3rd stages representing ‘after-thought’ improvements and/or corrections to the original plan. Even though the three stages combined amounted to 5.97 hectares, the Taitung government maintained that the ‘first stage’, if taken in isolation at the time, was only 0.99 hectares and didn't require an EIA. Therefore, “according to

1540-522: The sole owner. Huang was also a previous distributor for SsangYong Motor in Taiwan. In 2018 Huang Chun-fa was investigated regarding subsidy application fraud over a 10-year period dating back to 2005 in relation to his time as chairman of Daily Air Corporation. The investigation involved “more than NT$ 500 million” in subsidies. According to the China Times: “Daily Air was suspected of over-reporting expenses and declaring false losses when applying to

1584-602: The south in Pingtung County , and Taitung's Zhiben Hot Spring offer the most recent models of coastal resort development in Taiwan. There are 16 officially recognized indigenous ethnic groups of Taiwan. Classified as Austronesian peoples, their descendants inhabited the island about 5000 years before the arrival of the Han Chinese. Although the percentage of indigenous in Taiwan today is only 2.35%, in Taitung County it

1628-609: The surrounding area dating back to the Neolithic period, approximately 2000–4000 years ago. Shanyuan/Fudafudak is designated indigenous territory. According to Taiwan's Basic Aboriginal Law (2005), such areas require consultation with the traditional custodians before changes to land rezoning and/or usage can take place. (Chen 2015) The beneficiary of any payout would be the Miramar/Durban Development companies owned by Huang Chun-fa , "...a second-generation business leader in

1672-473: The time, Hsu Ching-yuan was three years into his first term as County Magistrate while Justin Huang was the newly elected Taitung representative in the Central Government Legislature. The development area was divided into the theme restaurant and beach area. Deemed a minor development, it was classified as ‘General’ rather than ‘International Tourism’ which meant that the Taitung Government

1716-570: The ‘all-inclusive’ travel model to Taiwan. With "a reputation of solely catering to tour groups", the old Miramar, at its peak, was highly profitable, and functioned as a ‘cash cow’ for other expansion enterprises, including the Linkou golf course in New Taipei City. Described as a cornerstone business in “the foundation of the Huang Brothers' development” , a Business Today article noted that, “As

1760-495: Was commissioned to retrospectively examine the project. The panel recommended a suspension of construction and fining the company for building law violations and environmental damage. Subsequently, Miramar/Durban was fined NT$ 300 000 (US$ 9091) for “exceeding the specified scope of construction ‘Stage 1' by the Taitung Kuang Li-chen Government, though it was maintained that the already erected 5-story structure of

1804-621: Was exposed. Miramar/Durban then agreed to remove the rubble. Although the litigation process to stop Miramar evolved into a complicated series of court cases, at its core, it was straightforward. According to the then-Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act 14-1: An EIA must be conducted on any development over one hectare - before construction begins. Miramar was a structure exceeding one hectare - without having done an EIA. Taitung County Government The Taitung County Government ( traditional Chinese : 臺東縣政府 ; simplified Chinese : 台东县政府 ; pinyin : Táidōng Xiàn Zhèngfǔ )

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1848-449: Was famous for the old Miramar Hotel.” The 15-story old Miramar Hotel opened in 1978 and was officially closed in July 2000. Huang Chun-fa , a then 21-year-old, worked on the original construction site as a supervisor under the guidance of his father and uncle. He later became responsible for running the hotel. The Huangs “established a precedent for cooperation with travel agencies” bringing

1892-439: Was granted control of the project. If ‘International Tourism’, the Central Government would have retained control. Subsequently, private companies were invited to tender for the rights to build and manage the project. Durban Development Company Ltd. (Chinese: 德安開發 ) is a descendant company from Miramar Group (Chinese: 美麗華集團 ), which, according to the China Post, "consists of subdivisions owned by different members within

1936-485: Was on-sold to Gwo Hua Life Insurance (國華人壽), which was also facing financial difficulties. Huang then bought a controlling interest in Gwo Hua whereupon it was declared bankrupt.{ The Department of Finance authorized a rescue package of NT$ 83.868 billion (US$ 2.725 billion) to cover Gwo Hua's liabilities and merge with Trans Global Insurance (全球人壽) In 2002, Huang Chun-fa and Wong Yi-ming, were charged with ‘Breach of Trust’ over

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