Taipei is not "Chinese Taipei"! Paul Peng: Taiwan’s capital should not only communicate with Shanghai

JOBIN Paul, an associate researcher at the Institute of Sociology of Academia Sinica, made a pun at the academic support meeting of Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang today. Taipei is not "Chinese Taipei" (Chinese Taipei/Chinese Taipei). Taipei is the capital of Taiwan. It should not only communicate with Shanghai, but with cities around the world. International exchanges cannot just be a trip by the chief executive, but a great opportunity for ordinary citizens and scholars to understand the advantages of other cities.

Paul Peng introduced himself in Taiwanese, emphasizing, "I am a foreigner, but I am also Taiwanese." He said that his expertise is in environmental and risk sociology, and he has long studied social issues such as industrial pollution and occupational disasters. In recent years, he has begun to study the Taiwan Civil Defense Self-Training Group to understand how citizens across Taiwan form independent training groups to jointly defend against various life risks caused by wars and disasters. To be honest, I don’t like the word “resilience” very much. It seems that as long as this vague term is used, society’s collective self-defense ability will automatically improve, without asking what has actually been done and what has really changed.

Peng Paulo pointed out that Shen Boyang's "resilient" approach made him willing to rethink the meaning of the word. As we all know, when a social collective suffers a large-scale disaster, it often replicates the unequal power structure. The more disadvantaged the ethnic group, the more severe the negative impact it suffers from the disaster and the less repair resources it receives. In this case, "resilience" will become an excuse for the government to shirk its responsibility.

Shen Boyang's thinking on building "resilience" spans public safety, transportation, childcare, community disaster prevention, and support for vulnerable and high-risk groups. Paul Peng mentioned that he likes the concept of "ecosystem", which focuses on the connection between people and nature, between people, and between communities. It has a better chance of breaking away from the logic of sacrifice under neoliberal governance. He also supports urban micro-forests, which are not only for environmental protection, but also for cooling, disaster prevention, improving health, and maintaining climate resilience and energy resilience.

Paul Peng said that he really likes the concept of "infinite city", including plans such as the establishment of a Taipei research institute. Taipei is not "Chinese Taipei". Taipei is the capital of Taiwan. It should not only communicate with Shanghai, but also with cities around the world. International exchanges cannot just be a trip by the chief executive, but a great opportunity for ordinary citizens and scholars to understand the advantages of other cities. "Ocean Current" has touched so many Taipei citizens and Taiwanese people. It should be because of Shen Boyang's "HEART" that elevated Taipei to a world-class city, inspired citizens to develop a spirit of mutual help and common good, and made Taipei a better capital of Taiwan.

Taipei Mayoral Candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party Shen Boyang attended the founding meeting of the Academic Support Association today (8th). The second from the right is Li Meijun, an associate researcher at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, and the first from the right is JOBIN Paul, an associate researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica. (Photo by reporter Cong Changjin)

Taipei Mayoral Candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party Shen Boyang attended the founding meeting of the Academic Support Association today (8th). Behind Shen Boyang is Peng Paulo, associate researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica. The first on the right is Li Meijun, an associate researcher at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, the second on the right is Lin Yiren, a professor at the Museum Research Institute of Taipei University of the Arts, and the first on the left is Chen Penong, a professor in the Department of Engineering at National Taiwan University. (Photo by reporter Cong Changjin)