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The Formation of Class-Based Civic Interest Groups in Transnational Taiwan

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The Formation of Class-Based Civic Interest Groups in Transnational Taiwan The Formation of Class-Based Civic Interest Groups in Transnational Taiwan Abstract This paper examines the emergence of class-based civic interest groups in contemporary Taiwan. These groups evolved to compensate for the inability of ethnic party politics in Taiwan to adequately represent the class-based interests arising from Taiwan’s growing role in the transnational economy. The KMT developed a system of education designed to Sinify Taiwanese and realign their national interests with a Chinese identity through a school system that demanded Mandarin language proficiency and knowledge of KMT party ideology. This was possible through the construction of a network of examinations that controlled access to higher education and professional certification. This effectively drove up the market value of these qualifications creating significant class division but a response to this was inhibited by martial law prohibitions against class-based organizations. The later emergence of an ethnically-driven party politics following the lifting of martial law failed to contribute to the formation of a class-based public discourse. The contemporary situation has found largely intact many of the institutions created by the KMT to maintain control over social mobility and class formation. Aspiring members of the transnational professional class are caught between the inability of government institutions to adequately deal with their class needs and a political discourse driven by ethnicity. The result of this has been the formation of non-partisan civic groups aimed at promoting the interests of an aspiring transnational professional class. This paper draws from a range of sources to describe the emergence of politicized civic interest groups in contemporary Taiwan. It begins with an historical analysis that details transformations that left unaddressed the class interests of large groups of Taiwanese citizens. Through interviews with members of volunteer civic groups, it then outlines the basis of this group membership in an emerging civic culture operating outside of conventional partisan politics. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for future political and professional organization in Taiwan. The Construction of a Professional Class in Taiwan Beginning in the early 1950’s the KMT began a series of reforms whose goal were to transform remnants of colonial Japan into a Chinese state. A key element in this transformation was control over the system that lead into professional certification and the employment system in which these professionals could work. The KMT established a system of education that controlled access to university education through examinations that defined key legitimate knowledge as Mandarin language ability and knowledge of political information. The importance of these qualifications for entrance into the professional workplace was assured by an economy that was almost entirely owned by the government of the ROC. As such, the KMT held the power to define the knowledge that would determine professional employment. Following their 1949 flight to Taiwan, the KMT found that Japanese language and customs developed during the colonial occupation continued to dominate in both the private and public lives of Taiwanese. Almost immediately, the Ministry of Education established reforms aimed at the elimination of Japanese colonial education policy and the promotion of Chinese traditions, heritage, and national characteristics (Wu, 1964). Initially, school curriculum was the main conduit through which this would take place. From 1950 onward, Mandarin was established as the official language of school instruction and enforced through the employment of hundreds of teachers who had fled from China with the KMT. To reinforce the conception that Taiwan was now China, instruction was established in Classical Chinese, the geography and history of China, and in KMT party doctrine based on the Three Principles of Sun Yat-sen. In 1953, military instruction became compulsory in schools. By the end of the decade, the KMT had established far more powerful institutions of control to regulate the attainment of education and certification necessary for professional employment. Through the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Joint College Entrance Examination (JCEE) became virtually the only avenue through which entrance to university was possible. In its fully developed form, the JCEE defined university entrance through compulsory Mandarin-based tests that examined, among other things, Classical Chinese and KMT party doctrine (Yuan, 1997). The certification necessary for professional work became regulated by the Examination Yuan. While the Examination Yuan was established as a branch of KMT governance during Republican China, it was never able to exert more than marginal control over the appointment of government officials and professional workers (Strauss, 1994). In Taiwan, the Examination Yuan expanded to become the primary gatekeeper to professional employment through its ability to set and legally control professional licensing examinations. The demand for Mandarin language fluency on university entrance and professional licensing examinations provided a profound advantage to Mandarin-speaking refugees from China and their children. As a result, among the generation of Taiwanese educated immediately following the War, mainland-born Taiwanese had far higher levels of educational attainment than other Taiwanese ethnic groups (Tsai & Chiu 1993, Chen & Lin 2004). For native Taiwanese, it established this body of knowledge as a legitimate professional knowledge base, and for those who achieved professional status, it helped develop bonds with the KMT through their monopoly over the State as a legitimate provider of affluence and stability. Even though the knowledge base that determined admission to university and eventual professional employment was largely political in nature and lacked strong vocational preparation, the KMT through their control of the government were able to regulate admission into preferred jobs. Companies controlled through either the KMT or directly through the government dominated the employment of university graduates and other professionals. Banks and finance companies, as well as large production firms, were directly owned by the government. Regardless of the large political component contained in the educations of Taiwan professionals, graduation and certification through the government-mediated examination system was necessary for professional work. Combined with direct employment in schools and the civil service, the state was able to control what kind of knowledge would lead to employment opportunities. All through the 1950’s and into the 1970’s, state-owned-enterprises (SOE) were major players in the Taiwan economy, accounting for a large portion of capital formation and employment (Crane 1989). During the 1950’s, SOEs consistently accounted for more than half of all industrial production. The 1970’s saw a shift to companies directly owned by the KMT which eventually grew to control large parts of the economy. By the end of the 1970’s, production from party-owned enterprises (POE) accounted for 6.2% of the GNP (Matsumoto 2002). Throughout this period, the KMT military government was able to control the supply of professional workers by strictly regulating the number of universities and hence the number of graduates. Through the expansion of the secondary school and junior college systems, the supply of literate workers was maintained without providing an increase in the size of the pool of potential professionals (Chan & Chan 1989, Wang and Wang 2002) It is perhaps little surprise then that even into the 1980’s, Taiwanese descended from Chinese refugees would still be able overrepresented among managers at state enterprises and in the government (Sheu 1989). Considering the role of the KMT in the policy creation of the professional class, it is little surprise that even among native Taiwanese length of education correlates with support for the KMT (Chang 1989, Wu & Lin 1993). Examination under Democracy Democratization has largely bypassed the world of politicized examination. While schooling and curriculum have been altered by a series of dramatic reforms, examination continues to reflect knowledge that has little meaning other than its necessity as an answer for questions on official tests. The dramatic education reforms that followed the 1987 lifting of martial have touched virtually every aspect of schooling. Reforms such as the Nine-Year Plan and the pro-Taiwan educational reforms implemented by the DPP following the election of Chen Sui-Bian in 2000 have altered many aspects of schooling and education, some say almost beyond recognition. Yet despite these structural changes, mastery of much of the political-based examination knowledge established by the KMT has continued to be the foundation of education and professional certification for Taiwan. The Examination Yuan remains a major source of archaic examination information. Since its members are appointed, rather than elected, the Examination Yuan reflects partisan interests more strongly that those of elected officials. As a result, conservative elements have retained a very powerful grip. Particularly since the 2000 presidential election, there have been a number of controversies surrounding the contents of Examination Yuan exanimations. Most of this involves attempts to remove archaic politically-loaded knowledge
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