Legislative Yuan "Golden Boy," "Young Turk" legislator, leader of the Kuomintang reform wing, and media pet--Jaw Shau-kong is a political personality with a very clear image in the eyes of the people.

In June of last year, Premier Hau Pei-tsun invited him to join the cabinet to serve as director of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). Many wondered whether this straight-talking, no holds barred parliamentarian, who had tenaciously and relentlessly focused on environmental issues, could continue to maintain his spirit of challenging authority, and could play the role of a strong "environmental cop." Others said that this time he was "in for it," because he had made "excessive" demands of environmental authorities in the past.

But in less than a year, Jaw Shau-kong has presented a clear image for himself and for the EPA." He acts to enforce the law, and demands that industry bring a halt to pollution. The EPA has already become a powerful agency!" "He has shown environmental reporters where to go to get the news!" Everyone from environmentally concerned citizens to environmental reporters describes him in similar terms.

Ten Years Without Change: Four years ago, just before the first director of the EPA, Eugene Chien, took office, he invited professors from the National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering to fill him in with some environmental protection background information. Then legislator Jaw Shau-kong also attended, paying close attention. Little did anyone suspect that the class would produce two EPA directors--it seems Jaw had long been preparing himself to serve as EPA chief.

Indeed, environmental protection is Jaw's "home turf." While studying in the US, he wrote his MS thesis on the prevention of water pollution. Ten years ago, he gave up his NT$100,000-plus per month job in a foreign company to run for a seat in the Taipei City Council. Even more important, because the Nankang and Sungshan districts of Taipei from which he hailed had long suffered from air pollution from the Chi Yeh chemical factory and floods from the Keelung River, he was pushed to the cutting edge of the era, becoming the earliest elected official to run on an environmental protection appeal.

Later, when he became a member of the Legislative Yuan, the problems about which he was concerned broadened and deepened--from national consciousness to relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits to the return of old veterans to their homes--but he never wavered on environmental issues, and they have always been part of his political life.

He believes that the reason he has long been attentive to the environment is because he was originally trained as an engineer. He doesn't like to spend a lot of time on ideological disputes, "and I pay much more attention to public policies which are intimately related to the lives of the people," he says. Environmental protection is one such critical issue.

Last year Jaw took over the post of EPA director, and finally got the chance to personally put into practice the ecological concepts he had built up over a decade. "To him this position is like a fish in water," says China Times environmental reporter Lu Li-teh, describing how Jaw has been able to play to his strong suit.

All-Out Offensive: In September of last year, with Jaw in office less than half a month, news of a major inspection of industrial air and water pollution was released. Besides releasing a list of polluting factories (including environmental "model student" Yung Feng paper company, which has spent more than NT$100 million buying pollution prevention equipment, but was cited because inappropriate operation of equipment at the Taitung plant was allowing air pollution to exceed standards), he also--for the first time ever--directly issued orders from the center to close factories which had failed to improve pollution despite long grace periods. Among them was the Chung Hsing paper plant in Ilan County, "which even former Ilan County Commissioner Chen Ting-nan, considered the most environmentally conscious county commissioner, hadn't been able to close down!" says Lu Li-teh. Environmental reporters got themselves a major gift, as disputes over environmental protection principles between Jaw and the business community became a hot topic in the media.

In the issue of returnable bottles, the soft drink industry was worried that the plan would drive up costs, and consistently rejected using deposits on bottles to implement the plan. After Jaw took over as EPA director, he made the garbage problem a main point of work, with resource recycling as the fundamental path to resolve the disastrous proliferation of garbage. He clearly stated that if the industry did not itself come up with a way to increase the rate of recycling of bottles, the EPA would seek a legal order banning the use of bottles. In December, the members of the industry who had resisted for three years surrendered, and offered a plan with a two NT dollar returnable deposit on all bottles, and set March 1 of this year as the starting date.

Can't Be Threatened: The Air Protection Act and the Water Pollution Prevention Act have been in effect for several years, but the localities have been unable to effectively implement them, so Jaw simply made a plan to make a list of the results of pollution inspection for the county magistrates and city mayors and a list of who was lax in collecting fines. Because he believes that politicians should be "consistent in word and deed," they shouldn't say they stress environmental protection and then privately bow to the pressure of enterprises.

In November of last year, the residents of four rural townships around the Linkou electrical plant in Taoyuan County demanded compensation from Taiwan Power because for a long period of time their crops had withered; otherwise they would surround the factory. This put the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Commission of National Corporations in a tough spot, because they couldn't arbitrarily refuse. Jaw, however, immediately announced the position of the EPA: If the MOEA agreed privately to make a deal with the local citizens before responsibility for the pollution was definitively settled, the EPA would halt all pollution inspection work for the four townships. This turned the situation around, and the MOEA followed suit and solemnly announced the principle of not paying compensation under duress. Fang Chien, overall organizer for Earth Day, then announced that although environmental activists did not in any way approve of Jaw's halting environmental inspection work, they could not deny that "these few sentences put the whole affair on the appropriate path."

News Focus: As for these hard-nosed actions since taking office, some note that they are made to order for the media, and as a result they deepen the image the public has of him as someone who" dares to do." In the past he was already known as the "media pet"--wherever he went, reporters knew there would be news to cover.

"He has a nose for news, and reporters just can't resist the news he generates!" exclaims Lu Li-teh. But it can't be denied that the basic reason why Jaw attracts the media and voters is his open, reformist style. Chung Jih-hung, as assistant with the New Kuomintang Alliance (Jaw's caucus in the Legislative Yuan) describes Jaw's attitude in handling anything as "picking an urgent problem and making an all-out assault on it, and he won't accept anything less than a resolution." Jaw says that a single person's time and energy are limited, and can't be spread out over many political objectives. In the past, when serving as a legislator, he often kept up with problems for years, such as with the Chi Yeh Chemical Factory, the cleanup of the Tamsui River, and others. In this way he also developed his own political style. "Everybody knows that when he raises a problem, there are definitely going to be results, so why wait until the last possible moment, just go and get it done," says one person who has observed Jaw up close and in detail, concluding, "and the firm determination with which his every action is done is based on public opinion."

Heavy on Public Opinion: In the 1985 Taipei City Council election, his vote total was high enough to elect four city councilmen [Taiwan uses a multiple member single vote system]. In the 1986 Legislative Yuan election, he was elected with 140,000 votes, highest in his district. In repeated electoral victories, he has overwhelmingly won over voters. With public opinion now a slogan for all politicians and a refuge for individual political stances, Jaw expertly uses public support in political activity and policy implementation.

As a legislator he helped found the Public Opinion Research Foundation, and frequently used public opinion as the base line for his interpellations. His daring to line up opposite business, or his refusing to accede to requests by public enterprises to extend their deadlines for pollution improvement, "is all fundamentally appeals to public opinion." Even if doing things this way were simply to increase his political reserve of public support for use in future elections, to rely on public opinion "is in any case a relatively healthy political path," concludes Fang Chien, and he is a rarity among political personalities.

In the Long Run: Not yet thirty, working in a foreign corporation, running back and forth between Taiwan and the US, deeply trusted with responsibility, and getting a large salary, "I think I was pretty lucky!" says Jaw Shau-kong. At that time, he saved a little money, bought a little real estate, and had, if not as much as the very wealthy, more than those at the low end. Yet he never spent much on election campaigns, and has never needed to rely on the backing of major corporate groups. 'One can be austere if one has no desires,' [a traditional Chinese saying] and it's also the only way to resolutely hold on to principle," he says dashingly, "and if I can't do it anymore, then I can't--I won't starve!"

"Straightforward, incorruptible"--these are also why he has received the seal of approval in the minds of the people. While a legislator, he was one of the few about who it was never rumored that he was in cahoots with special interests. As much as possible, he avoids giving anyone any opportunities to link him with corporate groups.

Chung Jih-hung, who served as Jaw's aide in the legislature, points out that if someone's political contribution was too large, he would ask what the motive was, and refuse it. He also turned down businesses that invited him to join their boards or to jointly run enterprises. Originally he operated an environmental engineering firm, but after becoming an elected official, he turned it over to relatives, and very few people know the name of that company. "He doesn't want them to win contracts just because of his status," adds Chung.

When he was a representative, he from time to time demanded that administration officials reveal their personal assets, so the first thing he did even before taking office was to reveal his own assets. Because of this, a lot of voters drew the following conclusion about him: "A lot of politicians have NT$100 million, but not many can say it's clean!"

Over the past ten years, Jaw Shau-kong has found his place on the political stage. But the position of executive branch official for him is just a beginning and, as the old Chinese saying has it, "you can only tell the strength of a horse over the course of a long journey." The future lays open before him, and there are still many complex environmental protection tasks to tackle. 　　　　　　

[Picture Caption]

Environmental protection was a main focus of Jaw Shau-kong's political activity, but now that he has taken charge of environmental protection work, can he restore the beauty of Taiwan's natural scenery? (photo by Pu Hua-chih)

Jaw, who entered the cabinet as an elected official, has public support as his biggest political resource.

Jaw Shau-kong has won public affection, and has repeatedly been reelected with extremely high vote totals. When he spoke at political rallies as a legislator, people attended in droves.

Jaw, who entered the cabinet as an elected official, has public support as his biggest political resource.

Jaw Shau-kong has won public affection, and has repeatedly been reelected with extremely high vote totals. When he spoke at political rallies as a legislator, people attended in droves.