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In the left corner, mega-multinational corporation DuPont. In the right corner, farmers from central Taiwan’s Lugang 鹿港. Ready? Fight!! To open Season Four, we have a David vs. Goliath story, made more complicated by the fact that the Davids in this tale weren't sure what weapons they could get away with using. Taiwan was changing fast in 1986, but it was still under martial law, and protests were often dealt with harshly. DuPont, a huge American company, wanted to build a chemical plant in Lugang (usually spelled as “Lukang”). Taiwan's government said “sure!” The people of Lugang, however, weren’t so cool with it... and for the first time in modern Taiwanese history they launched a “rebellion” against a major corporation, and the ROC authorities.
Cover photo via Taiwan Panorama.
Taiwan Panorama is a great place to find interesting stuff in English about Taiwan, including many pictures. Image shows anti-DuPont protestors in 1986 wearing shirts with Chinese characters that in English read: "I love Lukang. Don't want DuPont."
The website for the current Ministry of the Environment can be found HERE. Their English-language page allows people to report noisy or polluting vehicles and get real-time air quality reports, in addition to providing a wide variety of other information on environmental issues. In 1986, the authorities responsible for the environment were mere toothless shadows of the agencies Taiwan has now.
Below: A map shows the proposed site for the Lukang DuPont chemical plant. Via Taiwan Panorama.
Below: DuPont's Mississippi plant -- surrounded by a protective forest -- was the model for the one proposed for Taiwan, and it was visited by some Taiwanese journalists during the debate over building a plant in Lukang. Locals mostly boycotted DuPont's offer to visit and continued to strongly protest against any construction in Lukang (Lugang). (Courtesy of ROC Bureau of Environmental Protection）
Below: Protesters in August 1986 stand in front of Lukang's T'ien-hou Temple. Via Taiwan Panorama.
Below: The main source for this episode:
Pollution, Politics and Foreign Investment in Taiwan - Lukang Rebellion
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
