By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Aboriginal activist Lin Shih-wei (林世偉) yesterday said he had been threatened by property developers because of his advocacy of land preservation in Hsinchu County’s Jianshih Township (尖石).
Lin told a press conference that he received warning notes reading “Mind your own business, Lin” at his Jianshih home on Tuesday and was threatened by unknown men on an MRT train in Taipei on Wednesday.
Accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), the self-taught Atayal painter said he had filed reports with the police department in Hsinchu and the Criminal Investigation Bureau in Taipei.
Blinking away tears, the artist said his life was in danger because his advocacy against illegal property development in his hometown, Shui-tien Tribe (水田部落) in Jianshih, had obviously angered developers.
Lin suspected the threats were made about a press conference he and Tien have organized for Wednesday next week in Taipei to discuss the illegal development.
“A decade ago, we did not have hot spring hotels and coffee shops in Jianshih, but now the forests are all gone,” Lin said, describing over-development that has ignored land preservation and does not respect the Atayal culture.
The ones who made it happen were irresponsible politicians and local Atayal people who have no conscience, he said.
“I will fight for my homeland until I die,” Lin said, as he urged the government to investigate the illegal development.
“Otherwise, the Taiwanese government is no different than the Japanese regime which repressed the Aboriginal people during the Japanese colonial era,” Lin said, adding that the six Aboriginal legislators should not have turned a blind eye to the illegal development.
Tien condemned the threats and said that Lin should be respected for his determination to preserve Atayal land and culture.