Orchid Island
Lan Yu (also: Orchid Island, Chinese兰屿/兰屿, Pinyin Lán Yǔ, W.-G. Lan Yu ) is a 45- km ² volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan. Maintained it is by the Republic of China as a community Lanyu in Taitung County. Eight mountains on the island are higher than 400 m, the highest is 552 m of Hongtoushan (红 头 山).
The island of Lan Yu, on the 3,979 people ( as of August 2008), is home of the Tau ( Chinese达 悟 族/达 悟 族, Pinyin Dáwùzú ), one of the recognized as an ethnic minority indigenous peoples of Taiwan. The Tau are about 800 years ago immigrated from the southern Philippine Batan Islands, which are separated by Lan Yu through the Bashi - trench in the Luzon Strait. They call the island Ponso no Tao or Pongso no Tavo ( island of the people ) or Irala. The island is also known as Botel Tobago. The Ami they call Buturu, the Puyuma Botol.
The islanders live as farmers on the cultivation of taro, yams and millet and as a fisherman in particular from catching large quantities of flying fish. The island is accessible by sea and by air. The airline Air offers daily (weather permitting) to multiple daily flights from Taitung, ferry there from the port Fukang in Taitung.
History
First, the island was listed on the Japanese charts in the early 17th century as Tabako -shima, on a French chart of 1654 as Tabaco Xima. The Chinese, who had contact with the local population, they called Hongtou Yu (红 头 屿" red-headed Island" ), where the name originates Kōtō -sho during Japanese rule over Taiwan. The Japanese colonial government declared the island to ethnological research area, closed to the public. After the seizure of power by the Republic of China in 1946, the lockout until 1967 remained. Therefore, the traditions of the Tau are the best preserved of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. After 1967, schools were built and introduced compulsory education with lessons on Mandarin Chinese. Also, the tourism on the island has increased.
On 19 January 1946, the island was the municipality of Hongtouyu (红 头 屿 乡) in Taitung County. On 24 November of the same year it was renamed Lan Yu (兰屿, translated: " Orchid Island " ), according to the occurring there orchids of the genus Phalaenopsis.
Prison island
From 1958 to 1972, a large part of the island was seized to set up farms there for retired soldiers and a prison for criminals. The Tau complained that prisoners on clearance stole their property and raping women, but the authorities rarely took it seriously, because they themselves were never witness these attacks.
Repositories for nuclear waste
The International Atomic Energy Agency of the Republic of China in 1974 chose an area at the southern tip of the island as a " temporary " storage for radioactive waste from. In fact, it should take a lot of 18,000 tons over a period of 50 years. The government betrayed the Commissioner of tau, an illiterate, by claiming that she wanted to build a factory for canned fish and would need his signature for approval of the project. 1978, a port was built and the construction of the camp began in 1980. During this time, the veiling towards the islanders was maintained until churchgoers learned the truth from Taiwanese news. First shipments of low-and medium-level radioactive waste arrived in May 1982 by Taiwan's three nuclear power plants of the state Taiwanese utility Taipower. About 4800 tons of concrete pits are on the island without permission in 23 stored.
Statewide attention experienced the situation in 1991, when Kou Jian -ping, a Presbyterian missionary, with the support of anti-nuclear groups conducted demonstrations in Taipei and Taipower a letter with three demands handed: to prevent the expansion of the second phase of the camp; immediate halt to the shipment of radioactive waste on Orchid Island and the closure of the camp by 30 July 1991. Taipower fulfilled the first requirement, in 1996 the second. However, the bearing is still in operation. From the Executive Yuan is expected that by 2016, a final location is found for the storage of radioactive waste and the construction of a repository is complete. The government negotiated with Russia, the People's Republic of China, North Korea and Solomon Islands on shipping and storage of the Taiwanese radioactive waste.
About half of the island population protested in 2002 against the nuclear waste storage, as the government did not keep its promise to remove 100,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste from the island. Prime Minister Yu Shyi -kun apologized for the failure to meet the promises and that he can not say, given the lack of alternatives, when and how the radioactive waste is removed from the island. The utility Taipower offered the islanders to the payment of NT $ 200 million (about € 4.3 million ) to operate in return the camp for another nine years allowed.
Places
5.6 km south of the main island lies around 0.9 km ² uninhabited so-called " small Orchid Island " Xiao Lan Yu (English Florano Iceland, Chinese小 兰屿/小 兰屿, Pinyin xiǎo Lán Yǔ, W.-G. Hsiao Lan Yu ), which was used as a practice target for military aircraft. It is the home of the endangered endemic orchid, Phalaenopsis equestris f aurea.