An Exploration of Establishing Regional Hakka Cultural Cooperation Organization
Pao-Chien Wang
Abstract
In order to institutionalize passing on the Hakka language and culture in Hakka traditional areas, Taiwan’s government amended the Hakka Basic Act to create a mechanism for the establishment of regional Hakka cultural cooperation organizations. The essay employs the theory on cross-boundary governance as well as the research method of literature review to explore the implementation of cross-border cooperation, which is regulated by Article 24-1 of the Local Government Act. It also discusses the issues of establishing a Regional Hakka Cultural Cooperation Organization. The essay found that (1) Article 24-1 of the Local Government Act calls for regional governance platforms which the Control Yuan has criticized as being incapable of handling cross-boundary issues. (2) The regional governance platforms, which are organized by local governments, tend to promote Hakka cultural tours. As the government has amended the Hakka Basic Act and introduced the Development of National Languages Act, regional Hakka cultural cooperation organizations should pay attention to the issues of Hakka language revival and Hakka culture promotion. The essay suggests that regional Hakka cultural cooperation organizations could be established in the form of regional governance platform, which focuses on cooperation on specific issues.
Keywords: regional Hakka cultural cooperation organization; regional governance platform; across boundary governance