Think tank-envy infects city

Competition penetrated the crowded ballroom of a Taipei hotel yesterday as members of some of the nation's other think tanks witnessed the birth of Taiwan Thinktank, a tripartite group composed of pro-DPP political, economic and academic heavyweights.

"It kick-started a benign competition among various think tanks ... as we often have differing views on certain policies," said Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), president of the KMT's National Policy Foundation, commenting on the unveiling of what critics see as a pro-DPP grouping.

Although Chiang joined Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), president of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, in suggesting the possibility of cooperating with Taiwan Thinktank, tension between members of the different think tanks did emerge.

Chiang, for his part, seemed to pour cold water on Taiwan Thinktank's major areas of planned research, namely the nation's WTO entry and the power transfer in China following the upcoming 16th Chinese Communist Party Congress.

"On WTO, we have had the experience and we have a clear grip of the WTO's future evolution," Chiang said.

"And the [KMT] government in the past did quite enough on mapping out measures to cope with post-WTO entry challenges."

Chiang said Taiwan Thinktank might not have many opportunities to be helpful.

"On China's evolution, I am afraid that the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research already has rather in-depth research available," Chiang added.

While the National Policy Foundation was formed after the KMT lost power following a poor showing in the presidential election in March last year, the formation of the pro-DPP Taiwan Thinktank went quite differently.

Chiu Chwei-liang (邱垂亮), visiting professor at Tamkang University, said the establishment of the new group reflects a drive by the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration to tap the resources of the private sector.

"Many existing think tanks in Taiwan are either pro-KMT or funded by the government .... The Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research, for example, is funded by the government, while the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research is financed by the Koo's group [which is close to the KMT]," Chiu said.

"The arrival of the Taiwan Thinktank marks a new phenomenon in Taiwan," Chiu said.

The prime movers behind the new think tank envision a new group capable not only of proposing policies but of serving as a key "track two" channel to communicate with overseas think tanks -- with the credibility of the incumbent DPP government.

"The vital characteristic of this think tank lies in its strong pro-reform inclination and issues-oriented nature .... It won't focus on mere criticism and we expect it to possess strong policy formulation capabilities," said National Security Council Senior Advisor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).

For instance, while the Government Reform Committee, a consultative body to the president, is brainstorming measures on constitutional reform, the new think tank is scheduled to complete a related research paper as part of the hoped-for input into the policy-making process, Lin said.

Based on his participation with the think tank's creation over the past year, Byron Weng (翁松燃), national policy advisor to the president, also pointed out that he sees communication with think tanks abroad as the other major focus of the group.

"Especially when it's inconvenient for Taiwan's government to communicate with its counterparts overseas, the think tank -- with its reputed credibility -- can work as a certain kind of track-two channel," Weng said.