Taiwan S Environmental Struggle

Taiwan experienced a highly successful economic transformation in the last 50 years that produced one of Asia’s genuine ‘miracles’ of modern development, in terms of improvement in per capita income and overall quality of material well being for its citizens. The process, though, involved rapid industrialization and urbanization, and breakneck mass consumption, that inevitably resulted in rapid escalation in degradation of the island’s fragile air, water, and land, and produced some of the worst environmental pollution to be found anywhere in Asia This book examines the causes of Taiwan's environmental predicament, engaging in Taiwan's unique geological, geographical, demographical, political, industrial, historical and economic circumstances. In addition, Jack Williams and Ch'ang-yi David Chang assess the efforts of the government, NGOs and private citizens to create a "green" environmentally sustainable island, with a high tech economy based on the silicon chip, the backbone of Taiwan’s highly successful IT industry. Finally the authors discuss what can be done to improve Taiwan's environmental future. As the first commercially available book in English on Taiwan’s environmental problems this is an invaluable read for students and scholars interested in environmental studies, sustainable development and the island of Taiwan.

This book examines the causes of Taiwan's environmental predicament, engaging in Taiwan's unique geological, geographical, demographical, political, industrial, historical and economic circumstances with a view to what can be done to improve Taiwan's environmental future.

Three decades of rapid industrialization until the lifting of martial law in 1987, with little or no concern for the environment, have made Taiwan’s environmental degradation a serious problem. In the past twenty years, Taiwan has seen a surge of environmental organizations, which to a certain degree have enjoyed a remarkable success in fighting polluting industries or affecting policies on behalf of the environment. This book aims to analyse environmental governance mechanisms and actors in Taiwan through a multi-disciplinary research approach. Based on extensive and original research, it includes four different case studies, which have all taken place since 2011. It focuses on four major elements of governance - specifically norms, actors, processes, and outcomes - to examine Taiwan’s national and local environmental governance in the post-2008 period. The book shows how the painful lessons Taiwan has learned throughout its transition should be of interest to other developing countries, illustrating how these positive transformations have managed to bring about a more ecologically friendly mode of economic development. Demonstrating that the battle to further ecological sustainability is also a battle to further democratisation, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Taiwan Studies, Developmental Studies and Environmental Studies.

As the dazzling economic and social changes in China have imposed substantial impact upon the quality of environmental governance, it is time to review the problems and progress in the politics of China''s environmental protection. This book analyzes the factors in China''s governance and political process that affect and restrain its capacity to handle the mounting environmental problems. It argues that solutions to China''s ecological woes to a larger extent lie in the political and institutional changes rather than in engineering, technological and investment input. The book talks about new policies and reform measures in the green area taken by the government since 2007, arguing that some of them may be quite effective in the long run, as long as they alter institutional factors and the OC growth-firstOCO mindset that obstruct the green effort. The book also includes discussion of China''s climate change policy not only because global warming has come under the limelight of the international community in recent years, but also because it offers a unique dimension to analyze the country''s environmental diplomacy and domestic bureaucratic structure on emissions cutting and related energy issues. China is currently at the crossroads of further political and economic reform, and the intensified public attention to environmental pollution may help the Chinese Communist Party to decisively push forward the long-sluggish political reforms.

"At the turn of the century, Taiwan appeared to be a success story in both its economic and political development. Rapid economic growth and economic transformation had commenced in the 1960s and continued through the 1990s, earning the name of a "'miracle" in the 1980s. While considerably delayed, the country's transformation from a one-party dictatorship began slowly in the late 1980s but was completed without much trauma by the mid-1990s, reflecting both reforms from above by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and pressure from below by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The first two decades of the 21st century brought generally bad news, however. The economy slowed and became considerably more dependent on China, who claimed sovereign control over Taiwan; and politics became more conflictual as Taiwan's situation worsened. In terms of issues, national identity and cross-Strait relations dominated Taiwan politics throughout much of the democratic era. However by the late 2010s, economic and social issues had become important concerns as well. Consequently, as the 2020s opened, Taiwan was clearly at a crossroads in its international, political, and social situation. This book analyzes issues in contemporary Taiwan. The first two chapters consider a variety of issues; the next four analyze cross-Strait relations; then come three chapters on issues and the party system and three on constitutional and legal issues; and the final one focuses on a social issue"--

Written in a readable and concise manner, Governance of Biodiversity Conservation in China and Taiwan makes an interesting contribution to the study of Chinese environmental politics. Kathleen Burton, The China Quarterly McBeath and Leng s work on contemporary Chinese environmental governance and conservation provides an excellent overview of the key issues in the People s Republic as well as a timely comparison with environmental issues in Taiwan. . . McBeath and Leng s book is written in an concise and readable manner appropriate for undergraduate courses, while the breadth and depth of information makes it equally useful for graduate research. This book on China s environment makes a worthy contribution to contemporary conservation studies and policy issues, and should be essential reading for specialists and students working on biodiversity governance issues in China. Jack Patrick Hayes, Pacific Affairs This fascinating volume highlights the ongoing conflict between economic development and environmental protection in both mainland China and Taiwan. The authors value biological diversity and examine its loss and conservation from historical and comparative perspectives. Despite significant differences in institutional frameworks and environmental NGOs on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the authors also note a similar approach to biodiversity conservation and the entailed success or failure. This volume is a must read for people who are concerned with the endangered global ecosystem. Students in public policy comparison may find this volume instructive in combining institutional analysis with behavioral observation. Lin Gang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, People s Republic of China China and Taiwan have roughly one-eighth of the world s known species. Their approaches to biodiversity issues thus have global as well as national repercussions. Gerald McBeath and Tse-Kang Leng explore the ongoing conflicts between economic development, typically pursued by businesses and governments, and communities seeking to preserve and protect local human and ecosystem values. China and Taiwan have sharply different political and economic systems. In Taiwan, a public relatively more supportive of sustainable development, a free press, a more transparent decision-making process, and an autonomous civil society have influenced governance. Yet democratization has not guaranteed better environmental outcomes. In China, on the other hand, fragmentation of power and softer forms of authoritarianism than in the Maoist era have created openings for NGOs, scientists, journalists, and officials seeking a sustainable future to participate in the environmental policy making process. The authors provide an explicit and comparative treatment of the national policies preserving rare, threatened, and endangered species and ecosystems. Considerable attention is paid to the actors involved in policy formation and implementation as well as to recent cases concerning biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan. This comprehensive volume will appeal to students and researchers in the areas of political science, environmental science and politics, environmental activists in national and international NGOs, and members of multinational corporations working in developing countries.

Comparing Taiwan and South Korea strategically, Hwa-Jen Liu seeks an answer to a deceptively simple question: Why do social movements appear at different times in a nation’s development? Despite their apparent resemblance—a colonial heritage, authoritarian rule, rapid industrialization, and structural similarities—Taiwan and South Korea were opposites in their experiences with two key social movements. South Korea followed a conventional capitalist route: labor movements challenged the system long before environmental movements did. In Taiwan, pro-environment struggles gained strength before labor activism. Liu argues that part of the explanation lies in an analysis of how movements advance their causes by utilizing different types of power. Whereas labor movements have the power of economic leverage, environmental movements depend on the power of ideology. Therefore, examining material factors versus ideational factors is crucial to understanding the successes (or failures) of social movements. Leverage of the Weak is a significant contribution to the literature on social movements, to the study of East Asian political economies, and to the progress of the comparative-historical method. It enhances knowledge of movement emergence, investigates the possibilities and obstacles involved in forging labor–environment alliances, and offers the first systematic, multilayered comparisons across movements and nations in East Asia.