China's transboundary pollutants and Taiwan's air politics

Abstract

This chapter introduces the notions of “air politics” and “air diplomacy” to address the issue of transboundary air pollutants from China to Taiwan, and their influence on Taiwan’s domestic politics. According to multiple studies, transboundary pollutants from China account for around one-third of air pollution in Taiwan. The first part of the chapter presents academic discussions on air pollution between scholars from Taiwan and China. Despite a radical asymmetry of power between the two sides of the strait, these meetings have been conducted smoothly for a decade. But transboundary air pollutants remain a taboo in these discussions. Given the crucial importance of the China factor on Taiwan’s domestic politics, logically, one would expect the China factor to play an important role in domestic air politics. However, as we show in the second part, although air pollution does play a role in local politics, rather than transboundary pollutants from China, heavy industries in south and central Taiwan are perceived as the main culprit. This chapter is based on a multi-site observation from 2016 onward. The first part is based on an analysis of the scientific literature on air pollution from Taiwanese experts, interviews with these experts and attendance at scientific conferences gathering Taiwanese and Chinese experts. The second part draws on surveys, a multi-site observation of the movement against air pollution in Taiwan, and a big data analysis focusing on the local elections of 2018.