Wave Makers captures the zeitgeist of election campaigns in Taiwan

The Netflix series Wave Makers (人選之人 造浪者) is a behind the scenes look at election campaigns in Taiwan. It is set in the office of the Justice Party (公平正義黨) who are currently in opposition and campaigning to win the presidency from the incumbent Democracy and Peace Party (民主和平黨).

The parties are fictional, but the Justice Party most closely represents the pan-green camp while the ruling Democracy and Peace Party is a stand in for the pan-blue camp. However, the series studiously avoids the Taiwan-China cleavage that dominates politics in Taiwan. Some might feel it lacks something for avoiding this issue but instead it focuses on grassroots campaigning. The campaign staff are more intent on winning the election than engaging in global power politics. Organising rallies and countering the latest scandal in the tabloids or social media are what dominate the daily cut and thrust of the campaign.

Instead of the tension between Taiwan and China the series focuses on some other more local, but equally perennial, issues in Taiwan politics such as corruption, pollution and the death penalty. The key theme is gender politics with sexual harassment, homophobia and the power dynamics of office relationships examined in detail.

Given its feminist intentions it is fitting that the star of the series is Weng Wen-fang, played by Hsieh Ying-hsuan (謝盈萱). She is the deputy director of the public relations department of the Justice Party. She is from a political family and has her own electoral aspirations but she has a troubled relationship with her politician father who cannot accept that she is in a same-sex relationship. Weng acts as a mentor for Chang Ya-ching (Gingle Wang; 王淨) who experiences an incident of sexual harassment in the office and also deals with the consequences of a previous relationship with a powerful politician. The power dynamics of that relationship blurred the lines of consent and continue to have ramifications that play out through the series.

Both the incumbent president and the opposition’s presidential candidate in the series are female. Women are shown to be active participants and leaders in politics but it is also clear that they face extra challenges in achieving success and there is still an unequal power balance between the genders in decision making.

Another sub-plot in the series is the relationship of Chen Chia-ching (Jag Huang; 黃健瑋) with his wife. Chen is so dedicated to his job that he fails to devote enough time to his wife and young son leading to a difficulties in their relationship. Chen makes efforts to repair the relationship but it is clear that the demands of his work take priority.

Overall, I found the series wonderfully portrays the back office workings of an election campaign. It shows both the exuberance and disappointment; the compromise between living up to one’s ideals and doing what is necessary to win an election. It also doesn’t shy away from addressing critical social issues and gives a strong female perspective of sexual harassment in the workplace. For anyone familiar with Taiwanese politics it is a must watch. However, I am not sure how well it will resonate with viewers unfamiliar with the languages and culture of Taiwan. Still it serves as a great portrayal of the vibrant spirit of Taiwan’s democracy.

Book Review: Taiwan’s Green Parties

Taiwan’s Green Parties: Alternative Politics in Taiwan, by Dafydd Fell

My review of Dafydd Fell’s book Taiwan’s Green Parties was published in the Asia Pacific Greens newsletter. Also of note, the Asia Pacific Greens have issued a statement which expresses strong support for Taiwan’s sovereignty. Read the full statement.

Taiwan’s Green Parties is a thorough history of Green Party Taiwan (GPT) since its formation in 1996. The plural form of parties in the title refers to the splinter party, Trees Party, that formed in 2014 and the Social Democratic Party which formed short-lived alliances with the Green Party in the 2016 elections. While these other parties also contribute to the fabric of progressive politics and social movements in Taiwan, the main focus of the book is on the GPT. 

The GPT formed in 1996, the same year that Taiwan held its first presidential election. Some would consider this the date that Taiwan became a full democracy. Hence, the GPT can be considered to be one of the parties that has been a constant participant in Taiwan’s electoral democracy. This is significant because although Taiwan’s politics is dominated by two major parties there have been many third parties that have risen and fallen over time. Although the GPT may have had less electoral success than some other third parties, it has still had an important place in Taiwan’s political landscape. 

The book focuses on three key areas: electoral performance, media visibility and international engagement. It is perhaps the latter where the GPT have been most successful. Fell writes of the visit of Penny Kemp of the Green Party of Wales and England to Taiwan in 1996 soon after the party was formed. This was during the Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis and the visit represented a strong show of support for Taiwan’s democracy at the time. 

Bob Brown visited Taiwan in May 1996 which led to the development of an Asia-Pacific Greens network. There have been ongoing ties between the Australian Greens and the GPT. Taiwan hosted the Asia-Pacific Greens Congress in 2010 with Bob Brown in attendance. 

Although the GPT has had limited electoral success it has been at the forefront of activism for numerous causes. The prominence of various issues in the party’s campaigns have often reflected the key issues of social movements in Taiwan. In its early days the party was focused on anti-nuclear and environmental issues. Since 2010 the party has nominated a number of LGBT candidates. These candidates have played a prominent role in the GPT’s campaigns and LGBT issues have become a policy priority for the GPT. Taiwan eventually legislated for same-sex marriage in 2019. What was once a marginal issue had become accepted by the mainstream. 

GPT have been innovative in campaigning. In some ways this may be a response to a lack of resources, but it also in part reflects their values. GPT were the first party to campaign by riding bicycles. Although other parties later followed this trend, for the GPT it reflected that their members already rode bicycles regularly, not just for the purpose of political campaigning. The GPT was also innovative in the use of social media. This enabled them to reach a large audience without having to spend large amounts of money. 

The book delves into the details of the party’s electoral campaigns and in doing so reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the party. Lack of continuity in candidates has been a problem with most candidates only contesting one election. Electoral wins are more likely if candidates build support and name recognition over multiple elections. 

Another important point is balancing the tension between staying true to the party’s values while being able to gain enough votes to win elections. The GPT has often opted for ideological purity over political pragmatism which has placed a limit on its ability to win votes. It has on occasion foregone chances to cooperate with or support the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in order to remain true to the ideals of its members. Fell notes that one of the more successful third parties in recent years, the New Power Party, has been able to successfully balance its relationship with the DPP. The GPT needs to be able to find that balance point. 

Fell’s study is comprehensive and contains many details of the relatively short history of Green politics in Taiwan. He ends with recommendations for the future of the GPT. Some of the recommendations are quite general and could apply to any political party. For example, expanding the membership base and building a sound financial base with regular donations. Although the GPT has not had the level of electoral success that it aspires to, it is notable for its persistence as other third parties in Taiwan have tended to fade away as their success has been dependent on personalities or their ideologies have lost electoral support. Whether or not the GPT experiences electoral success in the near future, they will still be an important force in promoting critical environmental and social issues in Taiwan.

Open letter to the President of NCCU

Photo by Ken Marshall, flickr (Creative Commons licence)

The following letter, which I co-wrote with Ben Goren, was published in the Taipei Times today. Addressed to Edward Chow, the President of National Chengchi University, it calls on the university to change the school anthem and make greater efforts to align the university’s values with the pluralistic democracy of contemporary Taiwan rather than paying homage to the historical party-state.

As alumni of National Chengchi University (NCCU), we have followed the news about students boycotting the school anthem during a university choir competition with great interest (“Students boycott ‘outdated’ anthem,” Dec. 6, page 3).

We would like to make a public call to NCCU president Edward Chow.

We applaud and stand with the students who want to change the anachronistic anthem with a song that reflects Taiwan’s democratic values and seeks to establish the political neutrality necessary for the school to be taken seriously as an international institution.

NCCU was established in Nanjing and was re-established in Taipei. Throughout much of its history in China and Taiwan it has functioned as a training ground for bureaucrats of an authoritarian party-state.

Thankfully, Taiwan has moved on from the dark days of the White Terror era to embrace democratic values. Yet, sadly, it appears many administrators at NCCU are still resisting attempts to realign the values and ethos of the school with the evolution of Taiwan into a nation defined by pluralism, freedom of speech and transitional justice.

NCCU could be at the forefront of the efforts to “decolonize” public institutions of moribund political ideologies.

That it avoids this responsibility continues to hurt its reputation and taints its academic output with the stigma of unprofessional partisanship.

NCCU should no longer project an image of being a school for training students to serve the party-state. Instead, it should promote itself as being at the forefront of advocating democratic values.

It needs to encourage its students to develop critical analysis and leadership skills, essential for Taiwan’s continuing democratization. It also needs to cultivate the skills and the perspective needed to operate in an increasingly interconnected and complex international environment.

NCCU’s school anthem should be updated to show that Taiwan has a multi-party democratic system. It needs to strip its campus of structural and symbolic homages to its historical origins, and its role as a crude mechanism for legitimizing and reaffirming the state.

It should instill a vision for the university as a leader in the promotion of democratic values in Taiwan and beyond.

The administration of NCCU is standing on the wrong side of history. They need to catch up with the times.

David Reid and Ben Goren

Ten years of blogging at David on Formosa

A decade is quite a long time in the relatively short history of the internet. So I thought it was worth noting that this blog’s first post was written on this day ten years ago. At that time Facebook was only a few weeks old and Twitter hadn’t even been thought of. The internet has certainly changed and in some respects blogging has been overtaken by shorter, faster and more networked forms of online publishing.

I have put a lot of time and effort into creating content for this blog over the years. It has been a valuable experience and it has given me many opportunities. It has helped me to connect with a great group of bloggers in Taiwan and also to engage with an even larger group of people that read this blog.

At the time I started the blog I was inspired and encouraged by Michael Turton who continues to set the standard as a prolific Taiwan blogger. There are a few others in the Taiwan blogging community that I would like to mention. Kudos to TC Lin who continues to write at what is probably Taiwan’s longest running blog. Fili did a lot to promote blogging in Taiwan through Taiwanderful and the Taiwan blog awards. MJ Klein did a great job promoting social activities for bloggers such as the legendary Blogtoberfest. Tim Maddog started off with a personal blog, managed the group blog Taiwan Matters and then built a large following on Twitter. It has also been great to see my friend and classmate Ben Goren channel his passion for and knowledge about Taiwan into an award winning blog.

I have moved on from Taiwan and this blog is only sporadically updated. I still have fond memories of being part a vibrant community of bloggers who recorded many of the exciting, weird and wonderful happenings on the island of Formosa. I also still appreciate the work of those who continue blogging and help me to keep up to date with what’s happening in Taiwan.

Taiwan Studies conference at ANU

I’ve just spent the past week in Canberra attending a Taiwan Studies conference at Australian National University (ANU). The conference titled “Taiwan: The View from the South” was hosted by the Australian Centre on China in the World. The conference brought together scholars from Australia, Taiwan and other countries

It was the first time that I had been involved in a Taiwan related academic activity in Australia. It was great to renew some of my connections with Taiwan, especially meeting with my supervisor Dr David Blundell. It was also a good opportunity to learn more about the work being done in the field of Taiwan Studies in Australia.

One of the highlights of the conference was screenings of films by Tsai Ming-liang followed by Q&A with Tsai, moderated and translated by Linda Jaivin. Tsai’s film “Stray Dogs” screened to a full house. The second night of screenings featured two short films, “No Form” and “The Skywalk is Gone”.

Keynote speeches by Australia’s two leading Taiwan scholars challenged the audience to think about new ways of understanding Taiwan. Emeritus Professor Bruce Jacobs examined Taiwan’s history in terms of colonialism. Dr Mark Harrison took an epistemological approach looking at the role of storytelling in creating narratives of Taiwan’s development.

At the conference there was discussion about establishing an Australia and New Zealand Taiwan Studies Association. This would complement similar organisations in Europe and North America. The conference showed that there is a strong Taiwan Studies community in Australia and a more formal organisation would only help to further promote it.

Taiwanese community in Melbourne shows support for Sunflower Movement

About 500 members of the Taiwanese community rallied outside the State Library in Melbourne yesterday. The rally was part of a worldwide action with other events taking place in major cities of Australia, Europe, Asia and North America to show solidarity with Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement.

At the same time as the event in Melbourne a crowd estimated at 350,000 was turning out in Taipei. This represented a massive show of public support for the student-led Sunflower Movement which has occupied the Legislative Yuan in Taipei since 18 March. The movement’s key aim is to ensure that the Cross-Strait Service and Trade Agreement (CSSTA) and other agreements with China are subject to proper scrutiny by the legislature.

New book: Taiwan Since Martial Law

Taiwan Since Martial Law: Society, Culture, Politics, Economy
David Blundell (Editor)
NTU Press, Taipei, 2012

A few days ago I received a long awaited package from Taiwan in the mail. It contained copies of a new book, Taiwan Since Martial Law: Society, Culture, Politics, Economy.

I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the book because it contains a chapter I wrote titled, “Nation vs. Tradition: Indigenous Rights and Smangus.” The chapter is based on the research I did for my thesis in the Masters of Taiwan Studies program at National Chengchi University (NCCU).

While it is great to finally hold the book in my hands it is important to acknowledge the great amount of work that went into its production. Thanks must go to David Blundell for his tireless work as the editor. Many others were also involved in the project. The quality of the final product shines through in the beautiful artwork and design on the cover.

I feel quite honoured to have my work published alongside well known Taiwan scholars including Michael Hsiao, Ann Heylen and Jon Sullivan. Several of my classmates from the Taiwan Studies program at NCCU also contributed chapters to the book.

25 years have passed since the end martial law in Taiwan. In more human terms this period of time is a generation. The most obvious development in this time is Taiwan’s transformation from an authoritarian regime to a democracy. Taiwan’s democratic trajectories are outlined by Bo Tedards in the opening essay of the book. Tedards writes that “the process has not been a linear one, and nor is it quite complete.”

The process of democratisation is further explored in articles such as Jonathan Sullivan’s on election campaigning and Gary and Ming-yeh Rawnsley’s article on the media in democratic Taiwan. Human rights are addressed in Daniel Bowman’s chapter comparing the human rights policies of Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Shui-bian. Janet Tan looks at the need for a civil rights protection system.

The lifting of martial law not only created the political space for democracy to develop; it also brought about a renaissance as peoples rediscovered their identities and relocated themselves in the environmental space of Taiwan. Ann Heylen’s chapter discusses the “greening” of Taiwan history – the emergence of new historical narratives based around Pingpu identity, and the 228 Massacre and White Terror. Al Chung-chieh Wu looks at the emergence of a Hakka ethnic movement. Constance Woods details the resurgence of local identity in her case study of the Beitou Hot Springs Museum.

The book also contains several chapters on Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. In addition to my chapter on Smangus, Jackson Hu looks at how the Yami of Orchid Island have used memory of place to revitalise their cultural knowledge. Yayoi Mitsuda describes how the Thao people were the first new indigenous group to gain official recognition in 2001 ending the “nine tribes” classification that had dominated for almost a century.

I have not mentioned all the contributors and will leave it to those who read the book to discover more. My recommendation is of course biased, but I hope this book will help people better understand the diverse and vibrant society of contemporary Taiwan. It will also serve as a useful textbook for any student of Taiwan Studies.

The Story of Smangus at Students of Sustainability

This morning I gave a presentation about Smangus at the Students of Sustainability (SoS) conference. This year the conference is being held in Bendigo, which is not far from where I live in Australia. I attended because it was a good chance to reconnect with the academic world and activists in Australia. It was also the first time I have done a presentation about my research in Taiwan for an Australian audience.

SoS is an annual conference organised by the Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN) which connects campus environment collectives from around Australia. I first attended SoS in 2004. Incidentally the 2004 conference was also the first time I met John Seed. I later had the chance to travel around Taiwan with John and visit some indigenous communities including Smangus.

My presentation, titled “The Story of Smangus: Indigenous Rights in Taiwan,” started with some background information about Taiwan and its indigenous peoples. I then followed this with some discussion of the Smangus community and the legal case about the right to use wood from a wind-fallen tree. As the key theme of the conference is sustainability I wanted people to know more about how the people of Smangus have used their traditional knowledge as the basis for a sustainable community. The word sustainability is often misused, but I think the people of Smangus and other indigenous peoples around the world have practiced sustainable ways of living for hundreds or even thousands of years. There are many lessons that can be learnt from them.

Indigenous issues are a major theme at SoS. The plenary on the first day of the conference was on sovereignty. Grassroots Aboriginal activists spoke about the topic. Their perspectives presented a radical challenge to the mainstream discourse on this issue in Australia. This afternoon I had the chance to further explore some of these issues in a workshop about working with indigenous communities. The workshop talked about the need for “decolonising our minds” in order to work effectively with indigenous peoples for justice.

Smangus presentation – Students of Sustainability [pdf file]

Farewell to Formosa

It is more than a decade since I first came to Taiwan. During that time Taiwan has played a big part in my life, but my time there has finally come to an end and I am returning to Australia. This news may come as a surprise to some readers of this blog, but I have spent the past few weeks meeting with and saying goodbye to friends in Taipei and Taichung.

These past few years in Taiwan have been a rich learning experience. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to study at National Chengchi University (NCCU) where I completed a Master’s degree in Taiwan Studies. Dr David Blundell gave me some great guidance in the process of writing my thesis. David is currently editing a book titled Taiwan Since Martial Law. I have written a chapter for the book based on my thesis research and it should be published in the next few months. I will post the details of the book on this blog when it is available.

After graduating from NCCU I went to work at the Research Centre for Austronesian Peoples at Providence University. This gave me the chance to spend some more time in Smangus and to get to know the community of Marqwang in the rear mountain area of Jianshi Township. I have also visited a number of other indigenous communities around Taiwan with Dr Lin Yih-ren and thank him for his guidance and support. I must also thank Lahuy Icyeh, Watan Talu, Neqo Soqluman and Wang Hsin-han for their help over the last year.

In these past few years Venerable Chao Hwei (昭慧法師) has been very supportive and helpful. I will never forget her generosity in hosting the INEB Conference at Honghsi College in 2007. She also invited me to participate in the campaign against the Penghu casino and subsequently observe the referendum in Penghu. I have also participated in several conferences that she organised and other events at Hongshi College (佛教弘誓學院). I really must thank all the people at Hongshi College for everything they have done.

There are also many other friends and classmates who I have met during my time in Taiwan. There are lots of great people here and thank you to all of them for their friendship.

Some people have asked me if this blog will still be online after I leave Taiwan. I plan to keep this blog online for the foreseeable future and I will even continue to write the occasional post about various Taiwan related topics. I will of course be closely following the news from Taiwan over the next six months in the lead up to the legislative and presidential elections.

Morning tea with Tsai Ing-wen

Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) spoke to a group of foreign residents in Taipei yesterday morning. She first spent some time outlining her vision for Taiwan before taking questions from the floor.  Tsai is currently on leave from her position as chair of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as she competes in the party’s primary for the presidential nomination. The primary will be decided by opinion polls conducted in the next few days with the announcement of the result expected on 4 May.

In outlining her vision for Taiwan, Tsai focused mainly on relations with China and economic policy. She had some interesting ideas about Taiwan’s future economic development.

On the issue of jobs Tsai said, “We don’t have enough jobs and enough good jobs. Despite the fact you may be able to find a job, you may not be able to find a job with good pay. So the quality of jobs is important too.” Tsai then discussed how this was related to the structure of the economy. Since the 1990s as Taiwanese businesses and capital moved to China the restructuring of the economy was delayed.

This led to Tsai mentioning the effect of large numbers of Chinese tourists coming to Taiwan. “With the outward movement of industrial production to China we are exporting higher pay, better jobs to China. With the inflow of Chinese tourists we are actually importing lower pay service jobs,” Tsai said.

Tsai presented some of her ideas for creating better jobs in Taiwan. These revolved around promoting R&D industries and locating these in rural areas. She also mentioned encouraging artists to move to rural areas. Tsai also mentioned the importance of agriculture. She said Taiwan needs more professional farmers and that people from the cities need to move to the country to get involved in agriculture. These ideas are laudable but I would like to see some more concrete details of the policies.