of ambitions and competing interests led to the dissolution of the client
relationship.^36 Su joined the anti-Binnan movement and played the leading role
for opportunistic reasons. For him, the protest was a useful political tool to
increase his exposure and popularity.^37
Political implications of the Binnan case
This case demonstrates that Taiwan’s democratic change does not necessarily
lead to sound environmental governance. The macro social and economic
environment, as well as the need for local economic development, forced the
now ruling DPP to compromise. The DPP, a symbol of Taiwan’s democratic
transition, played an ambivalent role in leading the struggle of the grassroots
environmental movement with developmental groups. At the central level, the
DPP turned a cold shoulder to large-scale anti-Binnan demonstrations. At the
local level, incumbent magistrate Chen Tangshan sought balance and tried to
accommodate business interests. High expectations for Su Huanzhi, the key
figure and promoter of the movement, gradually diminished after Legislator
Su became Magistrate Su in 2001. Su continued to block the construction of
the Binnan complex after the passage of the final EIA procedure. However, the
real reason for halting the project is the diminishing business interest in it.
The prolonged nature of the process in this complex case indicates that it is
a new pivot to state-society interactions. Mutual trust and shared perceptions
between bureaucracies and civil society are based on a very weak legal
foundation. The attempts to pass the second stage EIA review before the
presidential election reflected the continuous entanglement of elections, local
factions, and business interests. In the post-EIA implementation stage, the
uncooperative attitude of local governments also initiated a new tug-of-war
between the center and local governments, and between development agencies
and pro-environmental bureaucracies within government ranks.
Political skills and leadership were key factors in the emergence of the anti-
Binnan movement. Under the leadership of Su Huanzhi, grassroots dynamism
and environmental enthusiasm bourgeoned. Critics objected to Su’s use of the
anti-Binnan movement as a stepping stone, to make himself a national political
figure. The other side of the coin, however, is that Su’s organizational abilities
rescued the black-faced spoonbill and lagoons in the Qigu area. The human
factor still dominates the operation, coordination, and transformation of
biodiversity governance in Taiwan.
The Nujiang Case
China’s most recent and controversial environmental protection case concerns
the proposed construction of dams on the Nu River in Yunnan Province. The
Nu River (Nujiang, meaning ‘angry’ in Chinese) is a major international river.
208 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan