Taiwan's Environment Today

• Published in: China Quarterly 1996-12, Vol.148 (148), p.1224-1259
• Main Author: Edmonds, Richard Louis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Air pollution; China; Consciousness; Environment; Environmental conservation; Environmental economics; Environmental legislation; Environmental Policy; Environmental protection; Environmental regulation; Government; Highway construction; Land use; Landslides & mudslides; National parks; Pollution; Precipitation; Rivers; Soil erosion; Soil pollution; Sustainable agriculture; Taiwan; Taiwan Today; Water pollution; Water shortages; Wetlands
• ISSN: 0305-7410; 0009-4439; 1468-2648
• DOI: 10.1017/S030574100005061X

The story of the post-1950 Taiwan economic miracle has been told many times. Quite a few authors have also dealt with aspects of the environmental degradation which has accompanied this growth. In general the literature places the blame on Taiwan society as a whole. It is critical of the government's slow evolution of regard for environmental protection, industry's lack of effort to assume its responsibilities and a lack of individual citizen concern prior to the 1980s. It is true that Taiwan's economy has grown rapidly since the 1960s. Unfortunately, this growth was linked to a low environmental consciousness and the lack of political will to regulate land use and pollution abatement. It was rooted in plastics, petrochemicals, leather goods, pesticides and other high polluting industries. These industries were attracted to Taiwan in part because of the environmental consciousness growing in the island's major markets, the United States and Japan. Sectors of the government favoured heavy industry as it would help with any efforts for a counter-attack against the Communists on the mainland. Social awareness of environmental issues and discontent with government and corporate management only began to grow in the 1980s and the government has yet to come to grips fully with the problem of environmental degradation. The purpose of this article is to describe the current state of Taiwan's environment, to trace the development of environmental movements on the island and to assess government's capability to salvage the situation.