In most sports, it is said that the best defense is a good offense. The more forward momentum you have, the harder it is for your opponent to knock you down.
Given the rise of China's global power and the continuation of Beijing's cut-throat strategy of strangling Taiwan's international space, it is essential for Taiwan to turn defense into offense.
In the past year we have witnessed China's offensive diplomacy in Africa and Central America, as well as continued efforts to block Taiwan's bid for observer status in the WHO.
Beijing's "purchase" of Taiwan's former diplomatic ally Chad on the eve of Premier Su Tseng-chang's (
The past year's experience shows that while Taiwan has been answering its opponent's attacks, its efforts have been to little avail. If the nation is barely moving, or trying to stand still, even the slightest push will make it go backwards.
While being aggressive constitutes the core element of Taiwan's new diplomatic initiatives, intelligence and aggressiveness must go hand in hand. The time for new thinking and strategic planning is now, before the first punch is thrown.
New policy depends more on the reallocation and redistribution of existing resources than a major review of operations. The goal is to keep China busy with Taiwan's diplomatic maneuvering.
When the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was in power, it was the "number of allies" that mattered. The goal of diplomacy was to maintain as many diplomatic allies as possible. The result was that both sides of Taiwan Strait engaged in so-called "money diplomacy."
Even after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power, the situation remained largely unchanged, though the DPP government introduced some creative ideas such as placing more emphasis on humanitarian assistance and non-governmental organization activities.
Nevertheless, Taiwan continues to be labeled as a "bad influence" along with China by Australia and New Zealand on the island nations of South Pacific. The diplomatic battles between Taipei and Beijing in Central America and Africa attracted more attention than the government's efforts in non-political areas.
To distinguish Taiwan's diplomatic practices from China's, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should mobilize its embassies and representative offices to "light fires" wherever possible to keep Beijing busy trying to put them out.
For example, instead of engaging in the "money game" with China, Taiwan should show evidence to its allies that Beijing cannot deliver on its promises. Moreover, Taiwan should keep reminding countries that contemplate embracing Beijing the downside of China's growing influence, including its negative impact on local employment and economic growth.
A unified information program should be executed by the ministry and the Government Information Office worldwide to shatter the misconception that "China is a peaceful rising power" and reveal to the world community that Beijing's "peaceful development" is based on militaristic and authoritarian foundations.
To incorporate civil society into foreign affairs practices, Taiwan's political parties should set aside partisan differences.
They must facilitate communication and coordination between parties, the government and the people, so as to seek a consensus on diplomatic strategies and use this unified force to confront China's international suppression of the nation's sovereignty.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trip to China provides a pertinent reminder of why Taiwanese protested so vociferously against attempts to force through the cross-strait service trade agreement in 2014 and why, since Ma’s presidential election win in 2012, they have not voted in another Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate. While the nation narrowly avoided tragedy — the treaty would have put Taiwan on the path toward the demobilization of its democracy, which Courtney Donovan Smith wrote about in the Taipei Times in “With the Sunflower movement Taiwan dodged a bullet” — Ma’s political swansong in China, which included fawning dithyrambs