"Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above" More Than Meets the Eye

"Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above" More Than Meets the Eye
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)
A Translation
November 28, 2013

Summary: "Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above" offers us a bird's eye view from the air. A "Taiwan Through the Microscope," on the other hand, would reveal how everything is broken, everything is out of order, and would leave people aghast. Premier Chiang was moved to confront the problems. But problem solving requires addressing the root of the problem. Otherwise the ad hoc group will merely watch "Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above" then write a report. It will hold a meeting to discuss concerns but will not get to the root of the problem. The problem will worsen. No remedies will be found for the disease. The result will be "Governing the nation by watching movies."

Full text below:

Director Chi Po-lin's film, "Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above" has won awards and created a sensation. Those who have seen the film have been so moved they want to translate their feelings into action. Business firms and individuals have purchased group tickets to spread the message of love for Taiwan. Governments at all levels have used the film as environmentalist teaching material. Premier Chiang Yi-hua ordered the formation of an ad hoc group, aimed at those who have harmed Taiwan's natural environment. He ordered inter-ministerial consultations and set a deadline for improvements.

"Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above" was deeply moving because we remain strangers to Taiwan's geography and culture. Mountain regions account for 70% of the island's surface area. But restricted access to these magnificent mountain regions has long prevented the public from feeling close to them. We pride ourselves on being a "maritime nation." But access to the coastal regions was restricted during martial law. The shores of Taiwan are lapped by ocean waves. Yet Taiwan has no maritime culture. Development has been limited to local industrial development. The public sits between the mountains and the sea. But it remains far removed from their beauty. It may care about them, but has not been able to translate that care into action. Its concern is always belated.

Having seen Taiwan from on high, Premier Chiang has acted from up close. Premier Chiang's actions should be acknowledged. But Taiwan's land has been destroyed. Improper development and pollution are hardly limited to what can be seen from a bird's-eye view high above. Forests and cities contain pollution that cannot be seen from a bird's eye perspective. Government business collusion remains rampant. Saving Taiwan requires root cures. Land planning and land surveying must be completed as soon as possible. Attention to every link in the chain is the only solution.

Existing land planning is top down. It includes "Comprehensive Land Development Plans," "Regional Plans," "Directly Administered Municipality, County or Municipal Comprehensive Development Plans." Only then do county and municipal urban planning and non-urban land use planning come into play. High level land plans have no legal basis. Top-down control leaves huge loopholes. This has resulted in all talk and no action.

Nearly 20 years separate the "Land Restoration Ordinance" from the "Land Planning Act." The Legislative Yuan has repeatedly entered and left the scene. Today the matter remains in stasis. The key reason is the manner in which aboriginal populations in the alpine forest regions are classified. Some regions are designated as autonomous regions. Others are designated as central mountain regions. Consensus has been hard to achieve.

If the status of aboriginal peoples in alpine forest regions cannot be defined, the Land Planning Act will remain empty talk. The aboriginal peoples are at one with the alpine forest regions. One must understand the mountains. If the mountains abide, man abides. If the mountains perish, man perishes. Aboriginal peoples are always the first line of defense in conservation. People sitting in government offices on the flatlands have no call to tell aboriginal peoples how they should live. Aboriginal peoples revere and cherish the mountains. They have a sustainable approach to alpine forest region resources.

One tribal leader who tried to define the role of aboriginal peoples in the alpine forest regions resigned in despair. He said, "Aboriginal peoples are dedicate guardians of the alpine forest regions, the land where their ancestors are buried. They care more about the alpine forests than anyone else." He said the ministries that introduced agriculture and alpine tourism were responsible for 70% of the damage to Taiwan's mountains." Aboriginal peoples are at one with the mountains. This must be acknowledged. A minimal but critical budget to hire aboriginal park rangers to serve as alpine forest guardians will allow the alpine forest regions to remain healthier than planning by people from the flatlands.

Aboriginal peoples have been subject to unreasonable delays in national land planning. The Land Planning Act has remained frozen in the Legislative Yuan. A comprehensive survey cannot go forward. Typhoon Herb, the 9/21 Earthquake, and Typhoon Morakot were painful lessons. They made the public aware of the need to coexist with nature. Nevertheless we have long lacked sustainable land development planning and controls.

After Premier Chiang saw "Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above," he became alarmed. He concluded that alpine forest region development and maritime policy must be changed. For example, roads obviously must not be opened merely to to increase tourism. Large tour buses should not be allowed into the alpine forest regions. Yet they are still being approved. Mountain agriculture policies formulated by bureaucrats in air-conditioned rooms introduces capital from the flatlands. Aboriginal Peoples know this is not right, but they are unable to block it.

The nation's land is an undivided entity. Taiwan is an island ecosystem. From the mountains to the sea, it requires an overall plan, for disaster prevention if nothing else.  National land planning and a national land survey remain stalled. No sustainable land planning chain exists. All we have is one discrete lower level development plan after another. This enables government business collusion to profit through pollution. How under such conditions, can we protect our rivers and mountains? The Executive Yuan has just passed a 60 billion dollar special budget for flood control. If the watershed is managed piecemeal from its headwaters to the sea, if we refuse to admit error, how can we make the slightest difference?

"Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above" offers us a bird's eye view from the air. A "Taiwan Through the Microscope," on the other hand, would reveal how everything is broken, everything is out of order, and would leave people aghast. Premier Chiang was moved to confront the problems. But problem solving requires addressing the root of the problem. Otherwise the ad hoc group will merely watch "Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above" then write a report. It will hold a meeting to discuss concerns but will not get to the root of the problem. The problem will worsen. No remedies will be found for the disease. The result will be "Governing the nation by watching movies."

「看見台灣」不該只有視覺反省
【聯合報╱社論】
2013.11.28 03:18 am

導演齊柏林高空鳥瞰福爾摩沙的作品「看見台灣」得獎並引起轟動，觀賞過的人，心動、感動之餘都想化為行動。企業、民間有心人紛紛斥資包場，想擴大這部片子傳遞的愛台灣訊息，各級政府以此為環境教育的教材，行政院長江宜樺更指示成立專案小組，針對片子裡破毀台灣「教導的功課」跨部會協商，限期改善。

觀賞「看見台灣」之所以有這麼大的感動，源於大家對台灣山川人文的陌生。山地佔了島嶼面積的七成，但長期的山地管制，阻隔了人們與壯麗山巒的親近；雖自詡海洋國家，但戒嚴時期長期的海岸管制，雖為黑潮擁抱，卻無黑潮文明，始終只有地方產業開發的導向。民眾對山、海的美麗與哀愁，雖置身其中，卻有著難以言喻的距離，愛護卻未能付諸行動，關心也始終慢半拍。

高處著眼，小處著手，江揆的作法應予肯定，但台灣的國土破壞、不當開發及汙染問題絕不僅止片中鳥瞰呈現的部分，山林、都會等鳥瞰未及的藏汙納垢，官商沆瀣助長不法恐危害更大。救台灣必須治本，儘速完成國土計畫法立法並展開國土普查，全面關懷、環環落實才是正道。

現行國土計畫體系中，從上而下，分別有「國土綜合開發計畫」、「區域計畫」、「直轄市、縣（市）綜合發展計畫」，之後才是執行面的縣市都市計畫與非都市土地利用等。但最上位的國土計畫沒有法源，由上至下的各項管制即留下許多人為操作的空間；這正是長久以來高談永續卻無法推動的關鍵。

從《國土復育條例》到《國土計畫法》，近二十年的立法院進進出出，至今仍置之冷凍庫，關鍵原因是對原住民生活所在的山林定位，不管是劃設自治區，或者是設定中央山脈主軸區的想法，都難達成共識。

其實，原住民對山林的保育角色若無法確認，國土計畫法即不啻奢談。原住民與山林是一體的，瞭解山林，山在人在，山亡人亡，就保育的角度來看，永遠是第一線的尖兵；因此，無須平地人在辦公室為原住民設想該怎麼生活，原住民敬山、惜山，對山林資源自有一套生生不息的永續道理。

曾有一位致力推動原住民山林定位的首長灰心辭官，他直言，「對山林，原住民是以祖靈地的虔誠守護，比誰都愛惜山林。」認為現下各部會指導的引進高山農業、高山觀光……等政策，才是破壞台灣百分之七十山區的關鍵，「原住民山、人一體，這必須給予尊重；將相關預算的尾數用來聘用原住民為巡山員、高山守護者，山區一定比平地人的規劃健康且永續。」

因為原住民在國土計畫的定位遲遲無法獲得合理的認可，導致國土計畫法形同遭立法院冷凍，因而之後的國土全面普查計畫也無法推動。賀伯颱風以迄九二一地震、八八風災的連番天災帶來的慘痛教訓，雖使國人驚覺須改進與大自然相處之道，但政策上始終缺乏一套國土永續與管制開發規劃。

江揆「看見台灣」之後的警惕，必須落實為開發導向山、海政策的改變，例如為了衝觀光，明明不該開路、不應容許大型遊覽車上山的區域，仍然拍板放行；農業上山的冷氣房政策，夾帶平地人的資金挺進，原住民雖知道這些均屬不宜，卻無能阻擋。

國土是一體的，台灣是島嶼生態系，從山川源頭以迄出海口，即便只為防災，也必須有通盤計畫。如今，國土計畫、國土普查推不動的情況下，沒有上下游環環相扣的國土永續規劃，僅剩一個個下位的分區開發計畫，讓政商穿梭其間得以有染指獲利的空間，美好河山如何維護？尤其，行政院會剛又通過六百億治水特別預算，若水系從源頭到出海口仍是被分割處理，不肯停止錯誤，怎可能會有效果？

「看見台灣」是從空中鳥瞰，若是「顯微台灣」近距離的放大，看到各地破碎、失序環節，恐將令人不忍卒睹。江揆的感動是面對問題的深自反省，但處理問題必須治本、斷根，否則專案小組僅就「看見台灣」作了回報，開會討論後卻無法持之以恆地追蹤關注，對後續病變、惡化開不出對症下藥之方，那豈不是「觀影治國」？