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these two factors is the most important cause of environmental justice campaigns.
7. How do epistemic communities influence the environmental
justice campaign in China and Taiwan?
I separate this question into two questions, in order to precisely answer the question.
A.
Why environmental campaigns are more tolerated by Taiwanese and
China Government? -The Characteristics of Environmental issues.
In Taiwan, those who first engage the Orchid Island issue are epidemiologist and
biologists. Their purpose is to conduct research to investigate the effect of nuclear
dumping site. However, the concepts of “environmental risks” and “environmental
justice” are already defined and intertwined in Western countries. The scientific issues are
never scientific only, but have its own social implication.
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During the process of
research and presentation, the scholars deliver the “embedded” western ideas while they
are conducting a research in Western paradigm. On the one hand, the scientific research
itself provides authoritative evidence for local community to count on; on the other hand,
the research report also bring a new set of concepts in evaluating the circumstances of
local community. In other words, when scholars try to answer “Is it safe, according to the
25
Shlia Jasanoff, “Contingent Knowledge: Implications for Implementation and compliance,” in Edith
Brown Weiss, and Harold K. Jacobson, eds., Engaging countries: Strethening compliance with
International Environmental Accords, 1998, Cambridge.
Convention