A temporary halt to the demolition of Daguan Community, a military dependents village in New Taipei, has not answered the question of what comes next for its residents.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/03/25
By: Brian Hioe

The scheduled demolition of Daguan Community, a military dependents’ village, was temporarily called to a halt last week following negotiations between Daguan Community residents and government officials.

Daguan Community is a military dependents’ village in New Taipei that was originally slated for demolitions on March 18th. The New Taipei city government gave residents notice to vacate their homes on March 4, leaving residents with less than two weeks to find new residences.

However, Daguan residents have been facing the threat of eviction for over two years, with New Taipei city government officials claiming that Daguan residents are illegally occupying their land and are not the original residents of the military dependents’ village.

Credit: Brian HioeClashes between protesters and police outside the Executive Yuan on Mar. 6, 2019.
Military dependents’ villages are a form of housing community that military veterans that came with the Kuomintang (KMT) to Taiwan with their families were settled in, but many military dependents’ villages are built of ramshackle structures, with many impoverished, elderly, or infirm residents. In the present, the residents of military dependents’ villages may face eviction from developers working with city governments that wish to redevelop the land.    [FULL  STORY]