Following last weekends massive demonstration in front of the presidential office, a solution is finally offered by the government to settle the dispute over farmland in Miaoli. Five hectares of farmland will be given back to the farmers who refuse to move, and Miaoli County Magistrate Liu Cheng-hung apologized for his improper handling of this issue.

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In the wake of protests by Dapu farmers over the expropriation of their farmland by the Miaoli County Government, President Ma Ying-jeou asked Premier Wu Den-yih to mediate negotiations.

Miaoli County Magistrate Liu Cheng-hung has made three trips to the Executive Yuan this week, and Ma decided at a Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday to preserve some of the farmland.

With the central government backing the farmers, Liu has had adjust his stance and issued a public apology for driving an excavator onto a rice paddy.

Liu apologized four times over the course of one press conference, and hopes that the controversy can now be at an end.

The central government plans to create a new farming zone for the 24 farmers that refuse to move, but it remains to be seen whether the farmers will accept the proposal.