Resisting Naphtha Crackers

Protests against naphtha crackers have been an important trend in Taiwan’s environmentalism since their emergence in the mid-1980s. This article analyses ten protest cases (1987‑2011) to understand the evolution of environmental politics. I draw the following conclusions: (1) with the growing public awareness of pollution, new petrochemical projects are increasingly facing popular opposition; (2) the environmental movement assumes less partisanship, although ideological differences between the political parties still remains; (3) the mobilising capacity of NGOs is on the rise and has become the key factor in the success of protests.