and the role played by media in publicizing environmental news and opening
a forum for NGOs.
Chapter 8 contrasts the traditional, intra-elite (and bureaucratic politics)
means of resolving environmental issues typical in modern China and pre-
democratic Taiwan with decision making under conditions of democratization
in Taiwan. It reviews the significance of interest group conflict, for example
between business corporations and ENGOs, the extent to which environmental
issues have entered political party debate, and the bearing of concerns such as
biodiversity conservation in elections and on election outcomes. Then the
chapter turns to two large case studies: 1) discussion of the proposed south
coast (Binnan) development project on the Qigu wetlands in Taiwan and 2) the
impact of hydro-electric power development on the Nu River region of
Southwest China, for what they reveal about the political nature of environ-
mental decision making.
The book concludes, in Chapter 9, with a summary of the argument and
conclusions regarding the comparative politics questions we have asked
concerning the relationships between economic development, democratiza-
tion, and other important variables (such as horizontal diffusion) and
conservation of biodiversity in China and Taiwan. The chapter also asks
whether there are particular ‘Chinese characteristics’ in the global attempt to
create a sustainable future.
ENDNOTES
- Numeans ‘angry’ in Chinese.
- For a description of the characteristics of the area, see Zhixi Li, ‘Remote Sensing Analysis
of the World Nature Heritage Area’ (in Chinese), Forest Resource Management, 2 (April
2004), 47–50. - Guobin Yang, ‘Is There an Environmental Movement in China? Beware of the “River of
Anger”’, Asia Program Special Report for the Woodrow Wilson Center, 124 , 5, 9. - Jim Yardley, ‘China’s premier orders halt to a dam project threatening a “Lost Eden”’, New
York Times, 2 April 2004. - Jim Yardley, ‘Seeking a Public Voice on China’s “Angry River”’, New York Times, 26
December 2005, 3. - Taipei Times, 10 August 2003, p. 18.
- Huang Yueh-wen, ‘The Last Tribe? The Shaping of Recreational Space of Smangus’,
Journal of Geographical Science, 32, 8–9. - Taipei Times, 8 November 2004, p. 16.
- ‘Smangus and Zhenxi Bao’, Dadi Dili Zazhi, August 2003, 4–8.
- United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) (1995), Global Biodiversity Assessment,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - O’Riordan, Tim and Susanne Stoll-Kleemann (2002), Biodiversity, Sustainability and
Human Communities, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 14. - Pirages, Dennis and Theresa DeGreest (2004), Ecological Security, New York: Rowman &
Littlefield. Studies report little on the impact of habitat loss on protozoa, nematodes and
other micro-organisms. - Pimm, Stuart et al. (1997), ‘The Value of Everything’, Nature(15 May). According
to estimates made in China’s Biodiversity: A Country Study, the total economic
value of China’s biodiversity is 39.33 10 to the twelfth yuan (RMB); see
Introduction 15