Taiwan: Too Much Sniping, Too Little Joy

Taiwan: Too Much Sniping, Too Little Joy
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
May 26, 2010

Recently the public on Taiwan received a string of positive economic reports. During the first quarter economic growth exceeded 13 %, a 31 year high. Private investment growth this year will reach 37%, a 35 year high. Exports grew at an estimated rate of 24% this year, a 23 year high. Per capita GDP this year will reach an historic high of 18,000 USD.

But the happiness experienced upon receiving this good news lasted less than a day. Soon afterwards, the public was once again neck deep in anxiety. The main reason was the Taiwan stock market was sharply impacted for several days in a row by the European credit crisis and the political clash between North and South Korea. Cries of anguish filled the market. Even non-investors were on tenterhooks. Worse, the good news of first quarter economic growth was dismissed as a calculated effort to release profit reports close to May 20. Private investment growth had cold water splashed on them by reports that "unemployment remains high." The export boom was read as "excessive dependence on mainland China," an even more heinous crime. The increase in GDP meanwhile, became just another cue to mock President Ma Ying-jeou's "633" slogan.

Society on Taiwan has a particularly intense sense of crisis. People worry about their plight as members of a "small nation." They pay close attention to signs of trouble between the ruling and opposition parties. They closely monitor the pulse of the outside world to remain in synch with the international situation. Peoples' sensitivity to their environment and anxiety over change, coupled with an opposition party hovering like vultures, and endless sniping by talking heads, makes it almost impossible for them to experience happy times.

Interestingly enough, when Lausanne Switzerland announced its global competitiveness rankings, the Republic of China's ranking lept from 15th to 8th. Yet apparently no one considered this anything worth celebrating. On the same day, Headlines in South Korea's major media read, "South Korea's competitiveness exceeds Japan's for the first time," and "Korea achieves its best ranking ever." In fact South Korea's "best ranking ever" meant it merely squeezed into 23rd place. Both Korea and the Republic of China are part of East Asia's Confucian cultural sphere. Why the diametrically opposed responses within the two countries?

The collective anxiety felt on Taiwan has three main sources. One. Democracy has brought with it liberation of speech and thought. But it has yet to upgrade the content and quality of political thought. Instead, a social consensus has become even more difficult to reach. This deepens people's feelings of powerlessness and uncertainty. Two. The Republic of China's political development has reached a bottleneck. The mere transfer of power between the two parties has not allowed the ruling and opposition parties to cease hating each other. People in northern and southern Taiwan are unhappy with each other. These factors even intrude upon and oppress the economy, the culture, and other realms. Three. The public has less and less patience with Blue vs. Green political infighting. But society has yet to discover a new force able to break this deadlock. Under the circumstances, the more confrontational the commentaries, the more they nullify each other, and the more confusing they are to the public.

Society on Taiwan has long lacked a sense of joy. It has long been troubled by insoluble domestic uncertainties and foreign threats. Peoples' instinct to express and and enjoy themselves have increasingly been suppressed. When Ma Ying-jeou offered his "Golden Years" proposal, the Green Camp immediately mocked it as a "Golden Turd." Forget the soon to be signed ECFA. The opposition DPP is bad-mouthing it every chance it gets as "selling out Taiwan." It is using the differences in benefits received from the "Early Harvest List" to incite rivalries among different industries. How can the public not be apprehensive about where the country is headed?

The opposition DPP has chosen to equate democratic checks and balances with "endless sniping." That is bad enough. The opposition DPP and opposition pundits seem to be afflicted with "obsessive-compulsive criticism disorder." The ruling party meanwhile, has never outgrown its unrelievedly naive "Peter Pan Syndrome." It seldom responds to issues with maturity, in accordance with public expectations. Take for example the plan for a biotech park on the site of Ordnance Plant Number 202. Had the government stood firm on matters of environmental impact and urban planning, the development of environmentally friendly biotech industries on the site of an old ordnance plant was entirely feasible. What need was there to call a screeching emergency halt to a major national plan merely because of a peition submitted by one writer? The government's reaction to external criticism is passivity and timidity. This merely intensifies public anxiety.

Let us attempt to recall the last time the public on Taiwan experienced even a tiny bit of shared joy. When was it? Was it when Wang Chien-ming pitched a winning game in the Major Leagues? Was it when Ang Lee received an Oscar? Was it when Chen Shu-chu accepted a humanitarian award in New York? Was it "none of the above?" The issue is not whether the government is or is not doing a good job. The issue is not whether the Republic of China has received sufficient international recognition. The issue is not whether critics are malicious and irrational. The issue is whether this society still has confidence in itself and the capacity for joy.

焦慮的台灣：批評過剩與缺乏喜感
【聯合報╱社論】
2010.05.26 02:21 am

最近台灣經濟接連傳出好消息，包括：首季經濟成長超過百分之十三，創下卅一年來單季新高；今年民間投資成長將達三成七，為卅五年來最高；今年出口成長率預估達百分之廿四，是廿三年來最高。同時，今年平均每人ＧＤＰ可望達到一萬八千美元的歷史紀錄。

然而，這些好消息帶給人們的歡愉，卻維持不到一天，整個社會馬上又被更大的焦慮覆蓋。主要原因是，台股受歐洲債信及南北韓危機牽累連日重挫，市場一片哀鳴，就連非投資人也不得不提心吊膽。尤有甚者，首季經濟成長的喜訊，被認為是刻意配合五二○釋放的利多操作；民間投資成長，被潑上「失業率仍然很高」的冷水；出口暢旺，被解讀成「過度依賴中國」罪加一等。至於國民所得的成長，則只是讓馬英九總統的「六三三」口號再被拿出來嘲弄一次罷了。

台灣是一個危機感特別強的社會，民眾除了擔心自己的小國夾縫處境，嚴密關注朝野之間的風吹草動，也不忘密切追隨著世界的脈動起伏，務求與國際情勢的呼吸同步。由於對環境的敏感和對變動的焦慮，再加上虎視眈眈的反對黨和滔滔不休的名嘴，台灣人民幾乎注定不可能有太多快樂時光。

有趣的是，當瑞士洛桑日前公布全球競爭力評比時，台灣雖前進了十五名而名列第八，大家似乎仍不以為這有什麼值得開心；但同一天，南韓各大媒體登出的標題卻是：「韓國競爭力有史以來首度超越日本」、「韓國取得歷來最佳名次」。事實上，南韓所謂的最佳成績，也不過是擠進第廿三名罷了。同屬亞洲儒家文化區，何以兩國的憂喜反應卻如此背道而馳？

台灣社會的集體焦慮症，主要來源有三：其一，民主政治雖帶來言論和思想的解放，卻未使政治內涵和品質得到相對的提升，反而使社會共識變得難以凝聚，加深了人們的無力感與不確定感。其二，台灣政治發展已進入瓶頸期，徒靠兩黨的輪替執政，仍無法走出朝野相互仇恨、南北彼此不滿的窒鬱，這甚至已對經濟、文化及其他領域造成侵擾和壓迫。其三，社會上能夠抵禦藍綠對峙惡臭侵擾的淨土越來越少，但目前民間社會似又激發不出新的能量，足以衝破這項困境。在這種情況下，對立的評論越多，只是越發互相抵銷，也越是撩亂人心罷了。

台灣本來就是一個比較缺乏喜感的社會，在內憂與外患焦慮難解的情況下，人們發抒及享受愉悅的本能也越發受到了壓抑。當馬英九提出「黃金十年」的說法，馬上遭到綠營反嗆為「黃金一坨」；更遑論ＥＣＦＡ簽署在即，在野黨還在鋪天蓋地的唱衰為賣台，利用早收清單的得失來挑撥不同產業的矛盾。如此，人民怎麼能不惶惑：這個國家到底要走向哪裡？

事實上，民主制衡被在野黨上綱為「無限的批評」，也就罷了；問題在，相對於在野黨和名嘴群的「批評強迫症」，執政黨卻始終不改其「小飛俠症候群」的一派天真，不思對相關議題作出更符合社會期待的成熟因應。例如二○二兵工廠設置生技園區的問題，政府如果自問站穩了環評及都計的立場，要在舊兵工廠上發展兼顧生態和生物科技產業，並非不可能的事；何致因一名作家的請願，一項國家大計畫馬上陷入緊急叫停的茫然無措狀態？相對於外界的批評氾濫，政府的對應消極和畏怯，也是加深社會焦慮的主因。

讓我們回顧一下，台灣社會上次有過一點共同的愉悅，是什麼時候的事了？是王建民在美國職棒大聯盟贏球？是李安獲得奧斯卡獎座？還是陳樹菊到紐約領獎？或者以上沒有一件算得上數？其實，真正讓人擔心的，不是政府做得夠不夠好，不是台灣有沒有得到國際的肯定，也未必是批評者有多麼惡意和不理性，而是這個社會還有沒有保持愉快與自信的能力吧？