Editorial: Pointless revenge scores an `F'

Farewell, Senegal. We hardly knew you.

Note, however, that the streets of Taipei, Kaohsiung and other centers are not teeming with protests at the loss of this pragmatic former African ally. There will be little disruption except for the activities of a few government officials, consular staff and aid workers. Indeed, few will weep that Senegal has decided to embark on a more profitable relationship with China -- because the economic gains were almost entirely in Senegal's favor, no matter what it did.

The test of a government's character and competence, as with individuals, is best applied when the pressure is mounting and the stakes are high. The government has disappointed in this regard, not so much because it was apparently taken completely by surprise by Senegal's decision, and not even because Senegal was not buttered up enough to consider Taiwan a worthwhile ongoing diplomatic partner. Such upheaval cannot be fully predicted or prevented.

The government's basic problem is much more subtle, and that is this: The canceling of scholarships for Senegal's luckless exchange students points to an administrative culture prone to not only callousness but also strategic ineptitude.

Make mistake: The impact of this decision will unlikely be directly felt by anyone other than the students themselves, their families and the odd Taiwanese friend or romantic partner picked up along the way. Senegal's government is hardly likely to be too concerned about them either, though if it is sensible it will pack them off to Beijing right away -- and this is where the warning bell sounds if strategy is the only consideration.

These young men and women, like exchange and scholarship students from anywhere else, present an invaluable opportunity for the country to show off its people and its values.

Most students who come here take back to their countries a more profound understanding of -- and sympathy toward -- Taiwan and its future. Many students' lives are changed forever by their experiences with this country and its people.

Indeed, the number of former exchange and scholarship students who have gone on to bigger things and whose influence and contacts can benefit Taiwan is immeasurable, a fact that seems to be acknowledged by the continuing presence of a scholarship program for countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

So cutting off these students' studies mid-flight makes no sense.

Yet, as with the case of South Korea a decade ago, and various smaller nations since, the government considers students to be ripe targets for retaliation. This hamfisted, self-defeating approach betrays nothing less than a lack of confidence or pride in what Taiwan has to offer, a lack of interest in engaging the world, and points to the government's inability to reform a cynical administrative and strategic culture that tars individuals as national poker chips. Preaching to the region about democracy requires a more intelligent and generous approach.

So farewell, too, to Senegal's students. We wish we could have got to know you better, and that you will continue to think of this country and the friends you have made here despite your rude and pointless removal.