Dear A-bian,
When you were elected almost three years ago, I along with many Taiwanese shed tears of joy at your victory. The change of government signaled the true arrival of democracy. Similarly, despite the economic problems, the success of the DPP and the TSU in last year's legislative elections further solidified Tai-wan's democratic foundation.
Thus, it is with heavy heart that I write this open letter. Basically, your government seems to be failing and only one year remains to fix things before the next election. Knowing many DPP leaders as well as many former KMT leaders, I believe that the problems cannot be blamed on lack of talent. Furthermore, it is true that international economic difficulties have made life harder for many in Taiwan, but these too cannot be used to explain the current difficulties.
Governing a democracy is always more difficult than governing a dictatorship. The two-way flow between government and the people is on going and can be very intense. But, and this must be remembered, the flow is bi-directional. The people present ideas to the government, but the government must also work to educate the people to understand its policies.
The fiasco over the canceling of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant shows your government's failure in popular education. The plant was canceled without any real discussion among the people. Where was the government education effort? Where was discussion of conservation of resources?
Where was discussion of the very long-term poisonous nature of nuclear waste? Where was the discussion of how not building the plant would save money? When were the alternatives discussed?
No such discussion took place. I personally believe that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is a big mistake, but Taiwan's population did not learn why. The failure of government education on the issue made it easy for the opposition to make the government look foolish. Despite the failure of the Taiwan Power Company to find suitable disposal sites for the nuclear waste, the population is not outraged.
Similarly, the abrupt turn in policy for the farmers' and fishermen's associations has left the government looking foolish. Your leaders should realize that these associations are popular with those parts of the population. Yes, it is true, that farming and fishing populations have declined, but they are still important. In the US and Australia, efficient agriculture ranks as an important industry and in Australia, at least, such agriculture survives without subsidies.
Agriculture, like many small and medium-sized industries in Taiwan and around the world, needs help restructuring. It should not be destroyed. Policies in the modern world are inter-linked. One reason that farmers' associations face problems has been the fall in land prices. If farmers' association -- or any financial institution -- gave a mortgage of NT$1 million on land worth NT$1.5 million, this is a safe loan. However, if the land is now worth only NT$0.5 million, the institution is in trouble.
What should you do?
First, you must start planning and policy formulation much more strategically. Ministries can no longer operate as separate kingdoms. Policies must be viewed in a wider context. There must be more review in cross-ministerial committees. This is one function of ministers without portfolio, but such coordination must be strengthened considerably.
Second, it is important to listen to the people. One of the great defects within the DPP is the lack of communication between the center and the local second and third-level party offices. Second and third-level offices may not be important in Taipei, but they are very important in your home county of Tainan and in "my" Chiayi County. More consultation and real listening with these lower levels would have provided insights into the farmers' and fishermen's associations before the recent setbacks.
Third, the DPP must begin to look at issues more realistically and less ideologically. Yes, associations were bastions of KMT strength and, yes, local factions did provide strength to the KMT. But times have changed. Farmers voted for you and voted for DPP candidates last year in the legislative election. And the DPP is now gaining control of some farmers' associations. But you are losing the support of even the southern farmers. Farmers' associations and local factions in themselves are not evil.
What is evil is the misuse of funds and vote-buying. These can be attacked legally as legislation already exists and, in fact, the attempts to stop vote-buying are proving ever more successful.
A new issue should be arising soon -- the abolition of township executive elections. The DPP (or at least the party center) has not liked these elections because it has not won them in the past, though this is changing. But, from the perspective of democracy and the average rural voter, these elections are very important. A farmer can go in and talk with a township executive, but who can they get to visit the county?
Furthermore, the appointment of township executives will simply spread county factions throughout all of the townships. Voters, such as those in "my" township this past January, actually voted for the "good government" candidate. He was formally nominated by the KMT, but the local DPP also quietly supported him. Appointment by a county executive with factional obligations would probably not choose such a candidate.
A-bian, you have just one year left before the presidential campaign gets underway. Your reforms are too important for Taiwan's future. Please fix things before it is too late.
Yours sincerely, A-pok (
Bruce Jacobs is director of the Taiwan Research Unit at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
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