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Special Edition of Taiwan Provincial Governor Wei Tao-ming’s Eastern Tour

Tags: video | Wei Tao-ming

    

Since Mr. Wei Tao-ming, Provincial Governor of Taiwan, took office, he traveled to many places to gauge the circumstances of local developments. He was concerned with the lives of residents on the offshore islands and traveled to Penghu to visit. Governor Wei extolled the soldiers for enduring the hardships of stationing on these offshore islands. Penghu is located off the western coast of Taiwan; it was called Siying in ancient times. The Penghu Islands are composed of 64 islands in various sizes, many are uninhabited small islands. The total area of the islands is 127 square kilometers and the largest islands are Penghu, White-sand Islet and Fishermen’s Island. The Penghu Islands, with their tortuous shorelines, formed numerous harbors; there are about 320 kilometers of coastlines in total. Fisheries were well developed there and people mostly rely on fishing for a living. Governor Wei tirelessly traveled by sea to Penghu. He inspected harbor developments and living conditions of the fishermen. The harbors are the bases of fishermen operations. Only when they are equipped with good facilities, can the fishermen bring back full loads and improve their lives. Governor Wei also inspected Penghu County Government and encouraged staff there to serve people well. Afterwards, Governor Wei and his staff members visited Taitung. Taitung is located in the east of the Central Mountain Range. It sometimes is called the “Back Mountain” since it is isolated by high mountains and hard to reach. The Provincial Government is very concerned with the developments of these remote areas. Governor Wei visited the Taitung County Government to learn about the local infrastructure conditions. A small portion of the people of Taitung County moved here from western Taiwan, the majority were aborigines. The indigenous people belonged to six tribes (at the time; later determined to be 14 tribes) and lived harmoniously on this land. The place retained very traditional culture. The indigenous people lived by hunting and farming. They were a contented and carefree people and leading a blissful life even though their living conditions were poor. Governor Wei and his staff members visited Hualien next. The coastline from Taitung to Hualien is long and the scenery is very beautiful. Hualien shared same geographical features as Taitung; it was remote, hard to reach, and sparsely populated. The eastern coastline was mostly rocky shore. The Hualien harbor is wide and deep, suitable for developing into a large commercial port. Governor Wei visited the Hualien County Government and listened to the briefing about the status of local developments. He instructed the workers there to do all they can to promote self-governing and build a free and democratic society to benefit all county people. Hualien is the home of the Ami aborigines. They have an optimistic nature and live a simple life. Governor Wei enjoyed the traditional dances of Ami and then inspected Hualien’s transportation infrastructure. Hualien County is a vast place and a convenient transportation network must exist for its prosperity. Governor Wei tirelessly took this eastern Taiwan trip to see for himself what the local needs were and he would use what he learned as references for policy implementation. His trip bore fruitful results.

 

Special Edition of Taiwan Provincial Governor Wei Tao-ming’s Eastern Tour
台灣省主席魏道明東巡特輯
 

 

Chinese Taipei Film Archive (Taiwan Film Digital Archives and Promotion Project)