A Cabinet spokesperson said recently that Taiwan was already negotiating with the US on the issue of providing humanitarian aid after the Iraq war, but that the "concrete amount to be shared," had not been discussed.
The political interpretation of these remarks would be that Taiwan is willing to help the US foot its Iraq-war bill. As for the question of how much, the government has told the US that it would be a lot rather than a little, but the matter should be kept secret from the people of Taiwan, lest it come under criticism.
In theory, humanitarian aid is part of a government's foreign aid program. The international community has a special term for this kind of government aid -- Official Development Assistance (ODA). In short, it means development aid including grants, preferential loans or technical assistance.
In peace time, rich countries have the moral responsibility to provide aid to poor ones. The importance of aid is even more obvious in times of turmoil because, apart from humanitarian considerations, foreign aid is often the only means for quickly restoring peace and order amid the chaos.
But we should all be mentally prepared. The cost of the "go to war first, provide aid later" approach is terrifyingly high.
Take for example the reconstruction of Afghanistan, which will require US$150 billion in international aid, according to a preliminary UN estimate. For this reason, during the Afghanistan Reconstruction Steering Group conference in Tokyo in January last year, the US took a leading role behind the scenes and asked other industrialized nations to share the cost. At the time, even Taiwan donated 100 Hino military trucks at the US' suggestion. But that is only aid that has been made public.
While in Japan for research purposes, I obtained through foreign channels some documents showing that the Taiwan authorities provided a secret sum of aid money amounting to US$29 million (NT$1 billion). It was to be provided in installments over three years to the Aid Coordination Unit of the Afghan Assistance Coordination Authority.
Those same documents show that Taiwan remitted US$10 million last year. But the government continues to prevaricate and avoid talking about the amount of aid provided to Afghanistan or the current status of that aid.
Now, after starting a war against Iraq, the US will inevitably follow precedent and ask its allies to help foot the bill. Taiwan, long marginalized in the arena of international politics, was not invited to the Tokyo conference last year. If Taiwan -- in line with precedent -- is not invited to a similar conference this time around, then it can give the US some face only after the conference by donating some humanitarian relief goods and providing a large, secret sum of money.
This would reinforce the outside world's impression that the bureaucracy and conservatism are the two things that have remained unchanged at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the transition of political power.
I was in Tokyo earlier this year to study foreign aid issues. The bulk of Japanese official data and academic papers is enough to make ODA an independent discipline. Takushoku University, for example, has a Faculty of International Development. We can see the importance attached to this area.
In terms of government budget, Japan's ODA has been decreasing annually since 1999. This is because Japan's economy has been in decline for a decade. The government is in dire straits financially and therefore has no choice but to cut spending.
But officials at Japan's foreign ministry have rigorous professional training. They share an understanding with academics that ODA is the most effective -- perhaps the only effective -- means of diplomacy.
Last year, scholars and experts were invited to form an advisory committee on ODA reform. In its final report submitted in December, the committee suggested that the government conduct foreign aid more effectively on the one hand, while on the other hand aggressively expanding private-sector participation in foreign aid programs and seeking to win public trust and support.
If you read between the lines, the report reveals the importance attached to transparency and publicity in ODA programs.
Humanitarian aid is nothing to be ashamed of. The Taiwanese public should also reach a consensus: Regardless of whether one opposes the US or the war, one should not oppose humanitarian aid. But why is the government so sneaky in its charity, as if it were something ignominious?
The government should seek participation in the international peace and reconstruction conferences so as to increase Taiwan's visibility. Domestically, it should make the aid programs public and transparent, and accept monitoring by the legislature and the public. It should also make sure that the charity money is used specifically for the benefit of innocent refugees.
Ernie Ko is a lecturer at the department of financial law at Yuda Institute of Business Technology.
Translated by Francis Huang
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