On Dec. 15, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) canceled his visit to Indonesia due to China's strong objections. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed serious concern and protested over Indonesia's "unfriendly, improper and inappropriate remarks."
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) may also revise the "go south" policy and stop all economic aid, and it no longer encourages businesses to invest in Indonesia. The MOEA has even stopped pushing a project for building an export processing zone in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta. Meanwhile, the Presidential Office stressed that Chen views the aborted visit in the context of long-term relations between the two countries, not of a single incident.
Whether the president can pay a smooth visit to a country that has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan is a severely challenging task. It depends on subjective and objective circumstances in both countries -- especially the power of Taiwan's economic and trade diplomacy, as well as the connections that Taiwanese businesses enjoy in that country's government.
A short-term diplomatic setback should not destroy relations between the two countries, much less seriously affect bilateral economic and trade relations. For the sake of Taiwan's dignity and diplomacy, MOFA should certainly lodge a strong objection to the unfriendly remarks made by Indonesia's Department of Foreign Affairs, which said Chen would never be welcomed there. MOFA should further demand an apology from the Indonesian government.
This is what MOFA should do. If the Indonesian government ignores the demands, or issues more unfriendly remarks, then the government should consider imposing various economic and trade sanctions on Indonesia.
But MOEA has proposed economic and trade sanctions before any further demand was made. Such a mistake was regrettable. Taiwan's diplomatic and business relations with a country that has no formal diplomatic ties are the result of long-term interaction. Government leaders have to carefully evaluate the long-term development of the two countries' relations before they decide whether it's necessary to make significant adjustments in response to some short-term diplomatic setbacks. They should never make any decisions that may harm both countries due to fleeting emotions.
Similarly, the national security system, MOFA and MOEA should look into the problem this time. They should also review and improve future diplomatic and business strategies -- as well as the administrative work and management of the president's foreign visits -- so that similar problems will not occur again.
The MOEA's rash retaliatory measures are the result of an inappropriate decision made by economic officials who tried to second-guess their supervisors' intent. Both the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan should stop such irresponsible actions, so as not to damage Taiwan-Indonesia relations or the development of Taiwanese businesses in Indonesia.
The twists and turns in the development of Taiwan-Indonesia relations will affect the success of the "go south" policy, which should not be lightly adjusted or changed due to some political emotions.
We still hold some bargaining chips for promoting economic and trade diplomacy in order to develop "gray-area" relations with the Southeastern Asian countries that have no diplomatic ties with Taiwan. This provides leverage for Taiwan in the development of cross-strait relations, which is also why those in power should do their utmost to boost the economy.
Chen Sung-shan is a member of the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission at the Examination Yuan.
TRANSLATED BY FRANCIS HUANG AND EDDY CHANG
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under