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Taiwan's leadership dithers as others act

Every nation in the world is striving to boost its economy at the moment. But the method Taiwan is using to rescue its economy is unique.

While those in power worldwide are responsible for coming up with effective solutions, those in power in Taiwan are holding an Economic Development Advisory Conference -- so that all the parties can be involved in coming up with solutions. While other nations are working with full vigor and urgency to save their economies, the DPP government is wasting a month or two by holding endless preparatory meetings in order to "reach a democratic consensus" on how to hold its economic conference.

To save the US economy, President George W. Bush, after being in power for a little more than 100 days, proposed a large tax cut which will exceed US$1 trillion over the next 10 years. The proposal was swiftly passed and put into effect. This major tax reduction proposal was drafted entirely by Bush's financial and economic aides. The proposal won wide support among a bi-partisan majority, even though Bush had not called a cross-party economic conference.

To save Japan's economy, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has proposed a national economic reform scheme, just two months after coming to power. His plan focuses on structural reforms, including helping the banking industry reduce approximately ?60 trillion worth of bad debts and cutting medical benefits for the elderly. Like Bush's proposal, Koizumi's reform plan was drafted entirely by his aides. Despite Japan's deeply rooted factional politics, most members of parliament are expected to support the plan.

Bush is a minority president. Although Koizumi is an extremely popular prime minister, he faces a parliament tightly controlled by factions. If we go by Taiwan's logic of holding conferences to seek consensus, wouldn't it be more important for the US and Japan to call large-scale conferences and seek consensus before proposing any reform plan than for Taiwan to do so? Holding such conferences is apparently not a prerequisite to boosting the economy.

Taiwan's politicians, however, have always been obsessed with large-scale gatherings, as if the world would be at peace once such a conference were held. The KMT had this obsession when it was trying to present a democratic facade. The obsession did not disappear after the DPP took office; instead, it worsened.

Consensus is indispensable in a democratic society. Politicians always talk about consensus. However, they are mistaken if they believe that there can be no reforms without consensus -- they have completely misunderstood the meaning of consensus-building and methods to exercise reforms.

If those in power wish to achieve a consensus on reform between the ruling and the opposition camps, they must develop clear views on reforms first. Both Bush and Koizumi, for example, have proposed their reform plans based on their views. Without such views, conferences called to seek a consensus may appear democratic, but they may in fact lead to a fake consensus, a compromise. A fake consensus will lead to fake reforms.

Taiwan has to get down to business now to save its domestic economy. The upcoming cross-party economic conference is neither necessary nor an effective method to stimulate our economy. If President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had learned from Bush or Koizumi and proposed effective reform plans earlier, no one would criticize him for being autocratic. It is to be hoped that the DPP will not be obsessed with fake consensuses in the future. Otherwise, all talk of reform will just be empty words.

Wang Chien-chuang is president of The Journalist magazine.

Translated by Eddy Chang
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