maximized political influences through collective action such as informal
group consultation and lobbying.^29
The 1980s and 1990s were also decades of rising social consciousness and
mass movements in Taiwan. Of these social groups, the environmental and
labor movements influenced enterprises the most. Anti-pollution activists
launched 108 protest campaigns in total between 1981–88. Most of them
targeted large enterprises such as Formosa Plastics and Du Pont’s proposed
chemical factory in Lukang.^30 In the 1990s, labor strikes and conflicts with
management became more frequent. Civic protests reminded businesses of the
need to participate in the state rule-making process so as to accommodate
rising social challenges. Involvement in politics was the most effective way to
retain corporate influence.
The transition of political power in the year 2000 did not change the
basic structure of state-business relations in Taiwan. The Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) co-opted owners of some business groups as major
economic and political partners through the establishment of the National
Advisory Group. Core members of the National Advisory Group, such as
Yin Qi of the Continental Engineering Group, then won large government
contracts such as Taiwan’s high-speed railways. The DPP government
successfully penetrated state-owned enterprises and rewarded its political
supporters with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) posts in these enterprises.
Many pro-DPP enterprise groups also gained from the privatization of former
state-owned enterprises. In brief, the DPP inherited many of the state-business
networks established during the KMT’s 40 years of governance. Overall, the
state included business interests in a corporatist-type system, but the new
democratic context required the ruling party to solicit business support. As we
note below with respect to biodiversity conservation, the state has paid
relatively greater attention to business pressure than during the authoritarian
era.
THE SPECIAL ROLE OF MULTINATIONAL
CORPORATIONS
Multinational corporations have had both positive and negative impacts on
environmental outcomes in China and Taiwan. International business
corporations have diffused environmental protection policies to China and
Taiwan chiefly through the process of global standardization. The impact of
this source of change has accelerated as both China and Taiwan have become
more dependent on foreign trade, investment, and credit. China’s standardiza-
tion laws have increasingly incorporated the recommendations of international
commissions, particularly those of the International Organization for
142 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan