their impact was quite modest, and they played a more important role in
enhancing the legitimacy of these committees than affecting the results. For
instance, because the Council of Agriculture (COA) had accumulated years of
experience in dealing with ENGOs, it kept a low profile during meetings of
advisory committees, but retained control over ensuing policy. The common
practice was for joint committees to offer vague policy guidelines, and transfer
the responsibility of implementation to local governments.^11 Advisory commit-
tees at the central level served as a forum for NGOs, but the real battlefield for
ENGOs was at the grassroots level, where local governments played key roles.
The 2000 presidential election was a milestone in Taiwan’s democratiza-
tion. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian won,
the KMT lost, and Taiwan accomplished the first democratic power transition
in its history. At the beginning of Taiwan’s environmental movement, DPP
politicians mobilized and organized the grassroots forces. Once the DPP
became the ruling party in 2000, observers expected it to enact its long-
standing party policy of environmental protection.
However, these hopes were not realized. As the DPP mutated from a mass
party into a parliamentary party, vote-maximizing became its prime concern.
It needed to form alliances with business communities at the central and local
levels in order to finance campaigns to win re-election. Thus, the party
converted radical pro-environment positions into moderate ones. The best
example concerns the construction of Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant,
which the DPP had opposed adamantly. After Chen’s inauguration and several
rounds of conflict with opposition politicians (who held the majority) in
Taiwan’s national assembly, the Legislative Yuan, the DPP finally abandoned
its anti-nuclear party line and allowed the plant construction to resume.
CASES OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
In this section we examine the way ENGOs and bureaucracies operate in an
environment of controversy, by considering the Binnan/spoonbill case in
Taiwan, and the Nujiang hydroelectric power development case in China.
The Binnan Case
The proposed Binnan Industrial Complex was designed for the Qigu Wetlands,
one of the last large lagoons on the west coast of Taiwan. The project would
present a major threat to the economy and ecosystem of the Zengwen Coastal
Plain, including a productive fishery employing 16000 people and a primary
roosting site located less than eight kilometers away.^12
The Qigu Wetlands are composed of sandbanks, lagoons (the largest is
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