Goto Shimpei was administrator-general of civil affairs under Lt. Gen. Kodama Gentaro, Japanese governor-general of Taiwan, from 1898 to 1906.As Kodama served also as deputy chief of the general staff at the Japanese military high command and had to be absent from Taihoku (Taipei) most of the time, Goto was the actual ruler of colonial Taiwan.Taiwan’s economy started to grow under the Goto-Kodama administration, which was able to end its dependence on subsidies from Tokyo in 1904.To the extent that Taiwan achieved its financial self-sufficiency in the first decade of their occupation, the Japanese could characterize their record in Taiwan as highly successful.Goto was rewarded for his success.He was made governor of Tokyo, a cabinet minister and a peer.His one hundred and fiftieth birthday anniversary was celebrated in Tokyo on Friday.The first Goto Shimpei prize was presented to former President Lee Teng-hui to mark the occasion.
Lee went to Tokyo to accept the prize.In an acceptance speech, he lauded Goto for contributions to Taiwan’s modernization.He went on to say he himself has been profoundly influenced by Goto’s achievements in Taiwan and “his extraordinary philosophy of life.”“It is not an exaggeration to say that Taiwan’s development has moved forward along the track paved by Goto,” Lee said, adding his Japanese education had allowed him to become mayor of Taipei, governor of Taiwan, vice president and president.He oversimplified the cause and effect relationship to pay tribute to Goto.
The greatest contribution Goto made was the attainment of internal security in Taiwan.The threat to Taiwan’s internal security – posed mostly by sporadic but often organized resistance groups following the island’s war of independence in 1895 – was finally terminated.Goto adopted a policy of inducing the rebels to surrender, which went in force hand in hand with the suppression.At least 3,000 rebels surrendered to the Japanese authorities; Goto himself went to Giran (Yilan) to participate in ceremonies for formal surrender by over 700 rebels the Japanese called dohi sozuku (bandits and petty thieves) on June 28, 1898. Most of them were slaughtered as soon as Goto had left.From 1898 through 1902, altogether 11,950 rebels were slain.
Another contribution was the introduction of a corruption-free and highly capable bureaucracy.The police system Goto set in place has remained almost intact in Taiwan today, though the quality of service offered now is much lower than at the turn of the twentieth century.With internal security assured and a better administration, Goto was able to launch infrastructure construction that laid the foundation for Taiwan’s fast economic development in the 1970s.He had Keelung harbor developed and built more railroads.But to end Taihoku’s financial dependence on Tokyo, Goto had to heavily tax the populace.An average tax load was 4.55 yen a year on Taiwan, compared with 3.34 yen in Japan.
Taiwan’s modernization certainly was not designed by Goto.Japan did not want to industrialize Taiwan.Modernization is industrialization. Japan invested in infrastructure and education not to modernize Taiwan but just to make its colonial rule easier and lucrative.It is preposterous of Lee, who finally got his bachelor’s degree from Taiwan University in postwar Taiwan, to claim his Japanese education has helped him eventually become president of the Republic of China.In fact, he made his postgraduate studies at Iowa State University and Cornell Universities, obtaining his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.
Lee contributed – almost single-handedly – to Taiwan’s democratization.He was picked by President Chiang Ching-kuo as his running mate in 1984.He became the accidental president when Chiang died in 1988.He was elected president in 1990 and reelected 1996.Democratization of Taiwan, which is a concomitant development of modernization, played no part in Goto’s “extraordinary philosophy of life.”Goto never even dreamed of democratizing Japan, much less Taiwan.
（本文刊載於96.06.04 China Post第4版，本文代表作者個人意見）