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And this resulted in shoddy construction and delays in major public transportation projects
such as Taipei’s subway line, the world’s most expensive, costing $13 billion and finished two
years late (Roberts et. al 2000). Therefore, the dominant faction of the KMT and the bureaucracy
had a powerful incentive to preserve the status quo and oppose policies that would break the
existing method of delivering public works.
The Impetus for Ending “Black-Gold” Politics
Black-Gold politics – including KMT ties to organized crime – mattered to the KMT
reform faction because these policies alienated large numbers of voters, who were increasingly
concerned with the consequences of corruption for public policy. This, in turn, represented a
tangible threat to KMT political dominance in Taiwan. Indeed, as noted above, younger voters
(representing over half of the electorate) increasingly demanded improved public infrastructure
and greener environmental policies (Roberts et. al. 2000). Reflecting this perspective, Ray Chen,
CEO of Compal Electronics Co. commented that “We need the government to create
transportation and other infrastructure.…We need to make environmental regulations that are
strict and clear, with no gray areas” (Roberts et. al. 2000, 2).
As consumers and environmental advocates began to recognize the public health and
safety risks posed by the KMT’s corrupt practices, these issues, along with the problem of
corruption itself, became highly salient (Frassrand 1998, 1). The KMT routinely won elections
when the only salient issue was relations with China. But, as these other issues became more
and more salient to voters, the KMT’s advantage was reduced. Political entrepreneurs – like the
DPP – determined that by identifying themselves as the party of clean government (as well as
the party of all the people, a clean environment, high quality public infrastructure, public safety,
etc.), they could use these newly salient issues as a means of challenging KMT dominance
(Eyton 1997; Flanigan 1998; Ganz 1999). This, at least in part, explains why former Taipei
Mayor Chen Shui-bian, DPP candidate for the 2000 presidential election pledged “to end money
politics, cozy ties between government and big business and other ‘abnormal’ practices
entrenched after half a century of KMT rule.” Chen continued to point to the “KMT’s
stranglehold on the entire government machinery, underworld ties, one-sided pro-business
Convention