The fight is not just about pollution--what Dr. Kao Cheng-shu, chairman of the Graduate Institute of Sociology at Tunghai University, means when he says the environmental aspects of the dispute cannot be viewed apart from social, economic, cultural and historical factors.
「雙方認知標準不同，根本就無一可溝通、協調的基礎」，東海大學社會系主任高承恕說：「於是魚捕不到、鰻長不大、人容易生病，皆成為受害者與工廠抗爭的理由。」