Anyone who has studied the integration of Europe will know a little something about Jean Monnet's (1888-1979) rich contributions to that cause. It was Monnet who drafted the "Schuman Declara-tion," proposing the construction of the European Coal and Steel Union.
This epochal move changed the face of Europe in the 20th century. At a summit of European heads of state and government leaders in 1976, a motion was passed making Monnet an "Honorary Citizen" of Europe. There is much Taiwan can learn from Monnet's vision, ideals and activist leadership.
Monnet was not perfect, but he had an outstanding ability to foresee global political, economic and social changes and he has been called an exceptional visionary. In reality, even though he had some success in the League of Nations (he served as its deputy secretary-general), he also had dreams of individual wealth. He was the vice president of an American international investment company and he even went to China to meet with T.V. Soong (宋子文, a leading KMT member who served as governer of the Central Bank of China and was later foreign minister) and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
Monnet was responsible for the foreign funding of the construction of China's railway network, but he later had a falling out with capitalists in Shanghai, and things were left unfinished. He became rich, but in the Great Depression lost almost all of his wealth.
The experience probably gave Monnet the opportunity for reflection, and he finally gave up the pursuit of individual wealth and glory. Beginning in 1940, he actively participated in World War II, mingling with the likes of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the leader of the Free French forces, Charles de Gaulle. After the war, he was responsible for establishing the first French economic plan in 1946, and from 1950 to 1970 he immersed himself in the European integration movement, holding high the idealistic banner of pan-European interests.
Using concrete social activism (he established the Action Committee for the United States of Europe), he activated and led a whole generation of European politicians and social activists (labor leaders and intellectuals) to work actively for the construction of a systematic integration of Europe.
It makes a lot of sense to examine Wang Yung-ching (
At best, in Wang's world, there is abundant ambition to continue struggling for the accumulation of individual wealth. Most worrying is that it is well within the realm of possibility that he may sacrifice Taiwan's overall interests in order to make more money for himself.
As far as Wang is concerned, there is only a wealth-creation perspective to cross-strait affairs. Wang is willing to kowtow to China in order to amass personal profit. There is nothing in Wang's statements about building Taiwan into a first-rate, international, modern country or cultivating a new elite that will excel on the international stage.
I don't dare to hope that Wang will ever undertake anything for idealistic ends. I simply hope that he will never again, in the coarse and arrogant manner of the wealthy, step on former president Lee Teng-hui's (
"No haste, be patient" was a policy that was proposed because the state was working for total development, and most importantly because it was a temporary measure to protect Taiwan's economic power from being restricted or swallowed up by China. Furthermore, the policy only required that investment plans worth over US$50 million be reviewed and approved by the competent central government authorities.
With fool-proof investment plans that can make big money, Wang and other financial magnates can borrow a lot of money from financial institutions around the world without being held back. So for people like Wang to criticize the policy is largely irrelevant. After all, the "management god" (as Wang is often called) became the "Management God" with the policy in place.
Chang Wei-pang is professor at the Graduate Institute of European Studies at Tamkang University.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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