Taiwan Today

Taipei residents have for months tended to focus on two topics: the hotly contested presidential election and high-tension cross-straits relations. Al­though these important issues have under­standably grabbed most headlines, another series of events over the past three months may have no less impact on the city's fu­ture. The Taipei city government's Depart­ment of Urban Development recently completed a series of roundtable sympo­siums on "Taipei Internationalization." The theme is in line with the central gov­ernment's policy of turning Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific regional operations center (called the APROC plan), particularly in the areas of manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, media, and air and sea transportation. Taipei, as the island's largest city, is expected to take the lead in attracting foreign firms and professionals to the island. But is Taipei attractive for business and as a place to live? The Saturday-morn­ing sessions brought together city officials and local journalists in order to hear the views of various representatives from the city's international community on this question. Included were corporate leaders, government officials, educa­tional and social service providers, and journalists from Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and the Americas. The foreign participants were asked to open with remarks on priorities for helping strengthen Taipei's status as an interna­tional city, then to reply to questions from the press. For long-term residents of Taipei, this series of meetings came as a breath of fresh air. In the past, recommendations from overseas residents about how to improve city life were rarely solicited. True or not, the official attitude seemed to be much as a man-on-the-street statement made recently to a foreigner who complained about illegally parked cars jamming the sidewalk in front of a party campaign office. One of the staff said, "If you foreigners don't like it here, why don't you just leave?" Interestingly enough, several of the foreign businesspeople in the roundtable discussions said this is exactly what they plan to do unless the city's quality of life and business environment for foreign companies is improved. The shopping list of what is desired by foreign businesses to ensure a level playing field in Taiwan's marketplace turned out to be fairly long. Nevertheless, the suggestions were closely in line with the goals of the APROC plan and other adjustments necessary for Taiwan to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO). For example, the encouragement to make bidding on city construction projects more in line with international practices was right on mark, as even a cursory glance at the problems associated with Taipei's mass rapid transit system verifies. No one wants a repeat of this mess (which the city administration is finally sorting out), whether one talks to contractors or to tax­payers. How best to avoid such problems? One way is for the government to avoid reinventing the wheel when adjusting its bidding process. There are already tried and tested international norms for such bidding, and Taiwan should adopt or adapt these, instead of trying to cobble together something that looks good on paper but isn't functional. Foreign businesspeople, many of whom have extensive experience in a number of countries, can be an important source of such information—and of much else that would help Taipei attain credibil­ity as an international city. If given access, they can play a helpful, cooperative role with city and central government, espe­cially through such organizations as the American Chamber of Commerce and the European Council of Commerce and Trade. But it helps to be asked! Thus, the Taipei city roundtable initiative has raised hopes in the international community that a cooperative, rather than a contentious, environment is emerging where people can work together for common ends. While an attractive business environ­ment is a necessary condition for interna­tionalizing Taipei, it isn't a sufficient condition for success. For instance, a gen­erous portion of the roundtable discussions focused on the "little things" that can de­tract from a city's livableness. Look at Tai­pei street signs, for instance. At present, a large portion are in Chinese without ac­companying romanization. And when romanization is used, the form is inconsist­ent—even varying at times from corner to corner on the same street. Maps are an­other problem. Not only do street names on signs and maps disagree, the majority of maps lack the precision and comprehen­siveness found in most other international cities. If foreigners can't even find their way around a host city, they'll never feel at home. A long list of desired changes in city life emerged from these meetings, but few suggestions were such that only foreign residents would benefit. In fact, most were "quick fix" suggestions that, if taken up, could well produce more positive momen­tum and political support for addressing the larger issues that bother everyone. The roundtables showed just how much foreigners and local residents desire the same results: improved traf­fic control and related law enforcement, a better garbage­-collection system, strengthened public health and safety inspec­tions in all schools, upgraded ambulance and emergency services, and more atten­tion to the problems of air, water, and noise pollution. Are these meetings a sign of change to come? Will government officials and community leaders—local and interna­tional—start meeting together regularly to work on city problems? The answer will depend in large part upon people's mind­sets. One foreign participant, punning on San Min Chu I (Sun Yat-sen's Three Prin­ciples of the People), said that all Taipei residents would do well to turn away from relying too much on San "Mei" Chu I, the three principles of mei wenti, mei banfa, mei kuanhsi—the commonly used phrases meaning "no problem," "no way," and "it doesn't matter." In fact, there are prob­lems, there are ways to solve them, and it does matter. If Taipei is to become the heart of the APROC plan, it will take aggres­sive steps by the government to turn policy into practical problem-solving. In this, the public clearly has a role to play.