television and radio were the primary source of news on environmental issues;
publicity produced by the government (regime socialization) was a second
source, 42 percent of respondents.^74 Nevertheless, these media are still
censored and do not report on all dissidence concerning the environment, such
as protests about the Three Gorges Dam.^75
Some 103 million Chinese are connected to the internet, the world’s second
largest number after the US,^76 and the usage rate has tripled since 2001. The
internet accommodates a number of blogs on biodiversity conservation issues,
yet this usage is supervised. Finally, since the 1990s, China has allowed a large
number of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to form.
As we shall see in a review of ENGOs in Chapter 7, they lack a fully
autonomous ability to influence government policy. Yet most of the ENGOs
take as their mission environmental education. Most ENGOs have websites,
and some have been quite successful at communicating their concerns through
the media. As the founder of one of China’s earliest ENGOs said: ‘Sometimes
we go to the press. But we have such good relations with them, that more
frequently they come to us’.^77
Notwithstanding these varied linkage mechanisms, it cannot be said that
China has a high degree of public concern for the conservation of biodiversity.
(See our discussion in Chapter 2.) A scientist pointed out the large gap
between elite and mass views:
‘Now biodiversity conservation is a government objective, but not a popular
objective. Ordinary people should want it. To protect a painting is simple, you put
it in a room and guard it. To protect an ecosystem is hard. You can’t put it in a room.
It shouldn’t only be government. There is a generational problem too, especially
with farmers and workers, and for remote areas and forests. That is the greatest
challenge to environmental conservation, not money.’^78THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK IN TAIWAN
Central Coordination
The institution promoting bureaucratic coordination and consensus building at
the central government level is the National Council of Sustainable
Development (NCSD). In June 1989 and August 1991, the Ministry of
Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Environmental Protection Administration
(EPA) respectively formed committees to respond to the Montreal Protocol. In
May 1992, the Executive Yuan formed the Global Change Working Group
(GCWG), chaired by the EPA’s Deputy Administrator, in order to coordinate
global environment related activities in all government branches. In December
of 1996, the Executive Yuan elevated the position of the GCWC under the
The framework for biodiversity conservation 89