As part of his scheduled trip to the APEC meeting concluded Sunday in Santiago, Chile, Chinese President Hu Jintao (
In the past, Taiwan was able to safeguard its diplomatic space in Central and South America. Rather than perceiving this as effective dollar diplomacy, it would be more pertinent to say that it was a result of the US' Monroe Doctrine, which was used to restrict the rising China from dragging the cross-strait battle into Central and South America.
The situation, however, seems to be gradually changing. Under Hu's strategy to limit Taiwan's participation in the international environment, Taiwan's high-ranking government officials repetitively use visits to Central and South America as a reason to make a stopover in the US, for the purpose of disseminating anti-China opinion.
This has long irritated China; therefore, if China can play a greater role diplomatically in Central and South America, Taiwan's hopes of having a presence in the international community will be ruined.
It is also part of China's strategy as a way to expand to the next town after the successful deployment of its security officers in Haiti [Taiwan's ally] recently. Hu's Central and South American visit was merely a tactic to use as many opportunities as possible before considering anything else.
Does the Monroe Doctrine no longer apply to China? We can only say that China's incessant proclamations over a possible war caused by Taiwan's independence have put profound pressure on the US; therefore, it has had no choice but to follow China's pace. It has become apparent since US President George W. Bush's re-election that resolving the situation in Iraq, the nuclear crisis in North Korea, and others all need China's joint effort. As a result, the US may not think it is a good idea to keep Hu out of Central and South America. This is a kind of international reality.
The greatest threat to Taiwan's diplomatic space is China's ambition to cross the borders of the ASEAN. In cooperation with Australia's policy to go north, China wants to reach out to New Zealand and Australia, and from there, pin down south Pacific islands to prevent them from leaning toward Taiwan. If China is allowed the opportunity to build relationships with Central and South American nations and control nations of the south Pacific Ocean, it will cause even more diplomatic hardship for Taiwan in the region.
As a result, we cannot take Hu's visit to Latin America lightly. Every single step China takes in the international community has a purpose: not only in accumulating the international strength all powerful nations require, but also, more importantly, in hindering Taiwan's diplomatic expansion.
Therefore, while Taiwan is exerting its best efforts to go east of the Pacific Ocean, China is also adopting a strategy to go east as an attempt to pull the cross-strait diplomatic battle to Central and South America. This is our greatest concern for Taiwan's future diplomacy.
Wang Kun-yi is an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, Tamkang University.
TRANSLATED BY LIN YA-TI
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US