Pollution, politics, and foreign investment in Tawain : the Lukang rebelion

144 Pages·1992·27.785 MB·English

by  Reardon-Anderson, James

POLLUTION, POLITICS, AND FOREIGN
INVESTMENT IN TAIWAN
Studies of the East Asian Institute, Columbia University
THE EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
The East Asian Institute is Columbia University's center for research, pub-
lication, and teaching on modern East Asia. The Studies of the East
Asian Institute were inaugurated in 1962 to bring to a wider public the
results of significant new research on Japan, China, and Korea.
TAIWAN IN TI1E MODERN WORLD
POLLUTION, POLITICS, AND fOREIGN
INVESTMENT IN TAIWAN:
THE LUKANG REBELLION
JAMES REARDON-ANDERSON
[I]
An East Gate Bool~
~~ Rou1J;n~~e
LONDO!,J N~D NEW
An East Gate Book
First published 1992 by M.E. Sharpe
Published 2015 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reardon-Anderson, James.
Pollution, politics, and foreign investment in Taiwan:
the Lukang rebellion I James Reardon-Anderson
p. em. -(Taiwan in the modem world)
"An East Gate Book"
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-87332-702-0
1. Titanium Dioxide industry-Social aspects-
Taiwan-Lu-kang chen--Case studies.
2. Factories-Location-Social aspects-
Taiwan- Lu-kang chen-Case studies.
3. Pollution- Taiwan-Lu-kang chen--Case studies.
4. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.
I. Title. II. Series.
HD9660.T583R43 1992
338.4' 766105 I 22' 0951249-dc20
92-29888
CIP
ISBN 13: 9780873327022 (hbk)
To
Matthew M. Gardner, Jr.
and
Lyman P. VanSlyke

CONTENTS
Preface ix
The Lukang Rebellion 3
Postscript 93
Appendices 95
Glossary 109
Bibliography 115
Appendix 1: United Daily News Telephone Poll
ofTaipei Residents, July 1986 95
Appendix 2: National Taiwan University
Student Poll of Chang-hua County Residents,
July 1986 99
Index 119

PREFACE
"LUKANG is just a little part of Chang-hua County," the
old woman in the vegetable market observed. "Why
does DuPont have to build its factory here? We are a
democratic country, so those big officials must listen to
us. Just like in a family, the old folks must listen to the
young folks and make adjustments. This is the only
way to have peace and happiness." 1
Why did DuPont have to build a factory in Lukang?
Why did the people of this town on the west coast of
central Taiwan fmd the prospect so disturbing? And
why did the parties to this dispute-the multinational
corporation, the residents of Lukang and its surround-
ing communities, and the government in Taipei-have
such difficulty resolving their differences, so that they
could enjoy "peace and happiness," as the old lady
said? These are the questions that made this an inter-
esting story to write and, I hope, to read.
The Lukang "rebellion" was a series of well-organized
mass demonstrations in 1986 and early 1987, whose
objective was to block construction by the DuPont Cor-
poration of a titanium dioxide plant in the Chang-Pin
Industrial Zone, located near Lukang. If this protest
had been tried just a few years earlier, it undoubtedly
1I nterview with Mrs. U Chao-chih in Lukang, July 1986, cited
in Tai-ta hsi1eh-sheng Th.-pang shih-chien tiao-ch'a-t'uan tsung-
ho pao-kao-shu, 75.
ix