The Railway Bureau has scheduled the demolition of a home belonging to a family surnamed Chen, which the last resisting homeowner, at 6 a.m. on July 23 for the Tainan Railway Underground Project. People opposed to the demolition gathered around the house which led to a standoff with the police, forcing the bureau to announce a delay of the demolition.


No to relocation! Protect our homes! Protect our homes! Fight for dignity!

Dozens of Tainan residents have gathered at this residence on Qingnian Road belonging to a family surnamed Chen. One member of the family is Chen Chih-hsiao, the spokesperson of the Anti-Tainan Railway Self-Help Association. The Chen family is the last holdout, and the Railway Bureau's Central Region Engineering Office scheduled the demolition of the Chen residence for 6 a.m. on July 23. It was set to tear down a kitchen wall to prevent the Chen family from using the room. The night before, supporters gathered at the residence, hoping to prevent the demolition the next day. At 6 a.m. on July 23, police officers began arriving, aiming to remove the protesters.

We didn't know which way they (the police officers) would charge in, so we just sat here to see how they would go about tearing down the house.

The forcible demolition of the structure located at No. 1, Alley 225, Qingnian Road, East District, Tainan City will take place today.

The Central Region Engineering Office was in charge of the demolition. The Tainan City Police Department sent 400 police officers to assist in the operation. Meanwhile, protesters pulled down iron gates and the entire atmosphere was quite tense. Chen's 90-year-old mother was very touched to see so many people working to prevent the demolition. She said she has spent the past nine years trying to preserve her home.

I'm not willing to give up this home, but the current situation is that (there's no other option).

The Railway Bureau had originally planned to send a representative into the residence to speak with Chen, but this plan was rejected. The standoff lasted one hour. At 7:20 a.m., it was announced the demolition had been postponed.

Today's demolition has been canceled to ease tensions and reduce social costs.

If the government is willing to negotiate, then it's really simple. It shouldn't use the police to communicate for it and it should revoke the demolition order. My demands are also simple. They are to preserve the residence and to preserve the residence. They'll have to find a way to overcome the technical issues, because that's not my responsibility.

The Railway Bureau and the Tainan City Government will now coordinate a new demolition date.



「反東移、護家園；護家園、爭尊嚴。」

數十位民眾，聚集在青年路，反南鐵東移自救會長陳致曉家中；因為陳家是台南鐵路地下化，最後一棟拆遷戶，鐵道局預計在23號清晨6點，拆除陳家廚房牆壁，讓陳家無法使用，因此聲援團體擠進陳家，意圖癱瘓施工。6點左右、數十名警力，陸續來到陳家周邊，準備將人員撤離。

反南鐵東移自救會長 陳致曉表示：「我們不知道他(警察)會從哪邊攻進來？但是呢，我們就坐在這個地方，看看他們怎麼來拆這個房子？」

「於本日，就台南市東區青年路225巷1號之建物，進行強制拆除。」

拆除任務由鐵道局中工處指揮，台南市警局也調撥4百多名警力支援；不過聲援團體關上鐵門，現場氣氛一度緊張。看到聲援團體力阻拆除作業，陳致曉高齡90歲的母親很感謝，談到9年來，努力保存自己的家，一度哽咽落淚。

陳致曉90歲媽媽 陳蔡信美表示：「不想放棄這個家，但是現在情勢，也是…也是(沒有辦法)。」

原本鐵道局想派代表進入陳家屋內與陳致曉溝通被拒絕，雙方對峙一個多小時，七點二十分左右，宣布拆除任務暫時取消。

鐵道局中工處主任工程司 吳志仁表示：「我們為了要減少衝突，以及衍生一些社會成本，本次拆除活動取消。」

反南鐵東移自救會長 陳致曉表示：「如果政府有意願，要進行溝通，那麼很簡單，不要用警察來溝通，先撤除強拆令。我的訴求也很簡單，就是原屋保留，就是原屋保留。至於技術上的問題，請他們自行去克服，這不是我的責任。」

要改到何時執行拆除，鐵道局將跟台南市府協調，儘速擇期進行。