President Chen Shui-bian (
The most critical achievement of Chen's whirlwind tour was the display of confidence in the stability of his three-month old "government for all the people (
Chen was able to leave for his first trip abroad less than three months after taking office.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Historical experience of changes of governments in third world nations are replete with examples of leaders of new governments that left home only to find that they could not return. Such worries were also raised in the Taiwan media before Chen's departure.
"For the president of the first government ever in Taiwan to arise out of a regime transfer to leave on an extended official visit showed remarkable confidence in Taiwan's democratic consolidation," observed Luo Chih-cheng (
The second major achievement of the tour was the consolidation, at least temporarily, of Taipei's relations with its 29 official allies, most of which are small Latin American or African nations.
PHOTO: AFP
Questions over whether the new Taiwan government would honor the commitments of its KMT predecessor had left an opening for Beijing to undermine ties between Taipei and several of its allies -- especially in Africa.
Senior Chinese leaders, including President Jiang Zemin (
But in a meeting with leaders of many of Taiwan's official allies in the six major stops and during the inauguration of Dominican Republic President Hipolito Mejia, Chen reaffirmed the continuity of Taiwan's commitments and sought continued support for the nation's efforts to secure representation in the UN and other international organizations.
Chen's personal meetings with the three African heads of state secured promises that all eight of Taiwan's African allies would not participate in the ministerial-level Sino-African Cooperation forum in Beijing Oct. 10 to Oct. 12, despite intense pressure from the China.
In addition, these gains were apparently made without making new assistance commitments, despite widespread warnings or reminders about Taiwan's past legacy of "dollar diplomacy."
In the face of such criticism, Chen also reminded Taiwan's citizens of the his government's belief that providing humanitarian and other assistance to less fortunate countries "is our obligation as a member of international society."
Such statements or actions by themselves will probably not counter doubts in the domestic or international media about "dollar diplomacy," however.
Some foreign wire services carried reports of aid commitments without noting explanations by the foreign ministry to Taiwan media that the alleged new programs were actually under discussion before Chen was inaugurated or had not yet been finalized.
The consolidation of Taipei's existing official ties should also grant the new government needed time to formulate its own distinctive foreign policy strategy.
"If we had lost one or two diplomatic allies right away, Foreign Minister Tien Hung-mao (
The downside is that Beijing "may intensify efforts to isolate Chen and Taiwan, especially since these countries first said they would send observers but now will not participate in the Sino-African forum," said the IIR analyst.
Despite the overall continuity, the 49-year-old former human rights lawyer and legislator was also able to display subtle differences in style from the past, reflecting both his common background and the DPP's grassroots political culture.
Having grown up in a poor farming family, Chen displayed skill in using a native hoe to weed a row of rice at a Taipei-sponsored project in Burkina Faso, a task probably beyond the ability of most heads of state.
A more tangible benefit from the tour may have been the chance for Chen to familiarize himself with the rather contradictory reality of Taiwan's diplomatic work on the front lines and the challenges faced by the new government.
The new president delivered an important message to both Taipei's diplomatic corps and its citizens by declaring in Santo Domingo that "pressure from the Chinese communists shouldn't become the only excuse" for diplomatic setbacks and that there was "much room for breakthroughs" given creativity and diligence.
Much of the new potential comes from Taiwan's strengthened legitimacy as a democratic society thanks to the DPP's victory and the break with the KMT's authoritarian legacy and image.
"The contacts made between the DPP in the 1990s with other opposition parties worldwide, including many with a socialist or social democratic orientation, now offer new opportunities unavailable during the KMT era," Wu said.
Reflections of the new room include improving relations between the DPP-led government and South Korea under President Kim Dae-jung and the Dominican Republic under new social democrat President Hipolito Mejia, whose inauguration Chen attended last week.
But whether all the members of the KMT-trained diplomatic corps are ready to set aside the past "Cold War mentality" and take advantage of the new space is far from certain, a problem reflected in the remark by a Taiwan diplomat that the victory of Mejia's left-wing "Party of the Dominican Revolution" could endanger official ties with Taiwan.
Perhaps the ambassador did not realize that the DPP is itself a center-left party -- as described by its own leadership, including Chen, in past interviews -- and that Mejia's assumption of power after a "change of skies" similar to that which occurred in Taiwan in March represents far more of an opportunity than a threat.
Similarly, ambassador Tsai Teh-san's (蔡德三) warning that labor management practices in Taiwanese factories in Nicaragua were generating serious labor-management conflicts and hurting Taiwan's image exposed a potential danger in the official hopes that private investment could bring diplomatic dividends.
"We need to educate ourselves so that we can have more correct ideas on how we can make positive contributions to the world community," MOFA's Luo said.
"The government needs to be responsible to both introduce Taiwan to the world community and also to introduce the world to Taiwan," Luo stated.
The main black spot in the journey occurred during Chen's overnight stopover in Los Angeles, where Washington pressured him to avoid any public statements and not meet with US senators and representatives.
DPP Legislator Parris Chang (
But Luo felt that even this incident had a silver lining for Taipei's future diplomatic efforts.
"Chen's decision to abide by the agreement with Washington on maintaining a low profile helped rebuild confidence between our two governments and also showed our allies that we stand by our commitments," Luo said, adding that criticism of the arrangement by US media may also help turn "a short-term disappointment into a future gain."
The key question remaining after Chen's return is whether the government will be able to effectively make use of the time gained from his first journey to develop and implement new strategies that can fulfill the commitment made by the new president on May 20 to carry out "democratic and human rights diplomacy."
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