The Logic and Lessons from Anti-nuclear Movements in Taiwan from the Perspective of Political Opportunity Structure

The anti-nuclear movement in Taiwan is not the result of the simple impact of the nuclear disaster. The Multi-dimensional Generation logic of the Anti-nuclear Movement in Taiwan is clarified by means of the Analysis of the Political Opportunity Structure Theory, which has important reference value for the anti-nuclear Governance on Not-in-My-Backyard in the mainland. In the process of Taiwan's transition from authoritarian system to democratic system, the closed and open system is prone to social protests, which provides a space for the anti-nuclear movement to survive and develop. Taiwan's anti-nuclear groups and the early anti-system democratic progressive party (DPP) have built an unstable anti-nuclear elite alliance outside the system. After the democratic progressive party (DPP) came into power, the anti-nuclear elite alliance was fractured, and the anti-nuclear groups actively alienated the DPP. The DPP lost its dominant power over the anti-nuclear movement, and the Mazu worship with strong environmental protection color gradually became an important political ally of the anti-nuclear movement. The outbreak of the international nuclear accident has provided a "loose political opportunity" for the anti-nuclear movement in Taiwan. The government should not only respond to the reasonable demands of the anti-nuclear people in a timely manner, but also strictly limit the anti-nuclear issues to the discourse framework of nimby, prevent religious factors or illegal infiltration of international non-governmental organizations, and guard against the risk of "politicizing" the anti-nuclear demands.By strengthening the construction of nuclear safety culture and carrying out nuclear propaganda and education activities, the coexistence mechanism between anti-nuclear protest and nuclear development is constructed to prevent the short-term "logic of public opinion" from influencing the “logic of political decision”, so as to ensure the stability and continuity of the national nuclear power policy.