Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

There was a time, not long ago, when Taiwanese were not allowed to speak Taiwanese and could not say they were Taiwanese without being ridiculed. There was a worse time, also not that long ago, when Taiwanese were imprisoned and tortured if they wanted democracy. That is the period portrayed in the movie Formosa Betrayed, which opened in theaters nationwide on Friday.

Can one imagine deprivation if one has only known plenty? Can one imagine oppression if one has only known democracy? Can one imagine a one-party state violating people’s rights unless one has experienced it? These questions inform the narrative of Formosa Betrayed and are just some of the issues it raises for Taiwan’s youth. It is a film that lays bare the harsh reality of Taiwan’s not too distant past, a harsh, often unspoken reality, endured by the parents and grandparents of today’s youth, a harsh reality that is hard to imagine. It is easier to say that it did not exist.

Not long after the Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPG) chemical plant in Kaohsiung County’s Renwu Township (仁武) was found to have polluted surrounding farmland, FPG’s sixth naphtha cracker was shaken by two serious industrial accidents within 18 days. In the second incident, pressurized hot oil leaked from the complex’s second oil refinery, causing a fire.

People are angry about these incidents and worried that the resulting pollution could pose health risks and kill crops and fish or make them unfit to eat.