As the government selects its new ambassadors-at-large, with its stated aim of injecting private sector resources into diplomatic channels, incumbent ambassadors-at-large and analysts said though supportive of the moves they were still cautious.
Unless the government intends to treat the ambassador-at-large as nothing more than "an honorary post," the foreign ministry should clarify the strategic objectives of the initiative and find solutions to the existing pitfalls of the two-year-old device, they said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Generally speaking, it is a good development to see the device continue, but the job description of the ambassador-at-large in question should be clear and a certain flexibility should be retained," said Philip Yang (楊永明), a political analyst at National Taiwan University.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Reviewing the brief history of the device in Taiwan, an insider said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has never thought it through carefully. It has largely been an honorary post."
Unlike the US where the practice of ambassadors-at-large has a longstanding history, with high caliber figures taking the posts as "full-time employees" to deal with issues like war crimes, Taiwan introduced the device with a relatively vague idea of the nature of the job in mind and with figures taking the posts principally as "voluntary workers."
"We had no duties then ... It [the appointment] was just an honor," recalled 76-year-old Loh I-cheng (
Aside from Loh, a retired and well-respected ambassador, Lee appointed two other renowned figures to take up the posts, including Jeffrey Koo (
Chiu, however, resigned from the post after Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) victory in the presidential election in March for what analyst Yang called Chiu's "bad fit" with Chen's political orientations.
But in the case of Loh, the "honorary" post he took on soon transformed into a real burden for the veteran diplomat after Taiwan established diplomatic ties with Macedonia in January 1999.
Eyeing Loh's polished diplomatic skills, former foreign minister Jason Hu (
Since then, Loh has visited the Balkan state over three times to negotiate with Macedonian officials terms for preferential treatment and lure private Taiwanese investment to the largely Taiwan-funded export processing zone, or to review the operations of a Taiwanese technical mission in the Balkan state.
Things weren't so easy for the diplomat. When first asked to travel to Macedonia, Loh encountered a bit of resistance in spite of the fact that he was a fully-accredited diplomat.
"I expressed our concerns over the issue, arguing that stable ties between the two countries are vital to lure Taiwanese investment. But if our credentials are still refused, this would trigger unnecessary worries on the part of Taiwan and Taiwanese people regarding ties with Macedonia," Loh said at the time. His credentials were approved shortly thereafter.
Even now, Loh regularly works at the foreign affairs ministry for two hours every morning to help decipher telegrams and other related information sent from Macedonia.
Despite his abundant vitality as "the warrior at the diplomatic front (外交鬥士)," as Lisa Cheng (鄭麗園) described Loh in her book Good Day, Mr. Ambassador (日安,大使先生), Loh did point out a discrepancy with the post.
While the Mandarin chinese language version of the letter of appointment for the ambassador-at-large states nothing more than the fact that the person in question was appointed by the president to take up the post, without addressing the nature of the job, the English version details the job description in a rather different fashion.
"We have invested him [referring to Loh] with full and all manners of power and authority to meet and confer with any person or persons being duly authorized and invested with power and authority by the relevant countries and to negotiate, conclude and sign any agreement conducive to the attainment of the above-mentioned end," the English version of Loh's letter of appointment states.
Such a disparity in the Mandarin and English versions of the related letters of appointment should be cleared up in the job descriptions of the ambassadors-at-large, analysts said.
Jeffrey Koo, on the other hand, admitted that sometimes the title of Taiwan's ambassador-at-large became a "hindrance."
"Sometimes this title could turn into an obstacle really. Because of this official title, China could block me from meeting some head of state in the region unless my personal ties to them help me otherwise," Koo told the Taipei Times in an exclusive interview last Friday.
"Recently my plan to meet with a new president in a Southeast Asian country was thwarted for the same reason," Koo added.
The 67-year-old banker from the Koo's Group (
"Actually I don't need this title to get into the doors of many head of states in the region, as I know almost all the head of states in east Asia and I can easily get to see them," said the veteran participant in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.
In a study of the involvement of Koo's group in diplomatic work through trade, Joyce Lin (
For example, after Taiwan's loss of its membership of the IMF and the World Bank in 1980 -- following China's application for membership of the two bodies -- Koo has arranged dinner meetings around the annual IMF meeting for interested officials and business figures since 1983.
"We offered them a good Chinese dinner and we invited our central bank governor each year to deliver a speech on Taiwan's financial and economic situation," Koo said, describing just one of the many tasks he has carried out over the years as Taiwan's de facto diplomat.
Since 1993, Koo's bank has arranged an annual roundtable meeting between scholars from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, and also for Taiwanese scholars and officials to exchange views on cross-strait issues.
Reminiscing about his roles over the years, Koo said it was "patriotism" that had driven him and his predecessors from the family to continue work as the government's "white glove" when necessary.
"I spend about half of my time running around overseas ... But for patriotism, I would not be bothered to do that," Koo said.
Although Koo's group sometimes has "its own business agenda" in mind when helping the government with certain diplomatic tasks -- as a foreign ministry official described it -- Koo said he believed that the newly appointed ambassadors-at-large should also have "patriotism" in mind if they want to shine in their job.
Ministry officials, meanwhile, stressed that the new device under Chen's administration has been "well-designed" and newly appointed ambassadors-at-large, expected to be announced by the president earlier this month, would not be merely "symbolic."
"It is MOFA's ambition to make these ambassadors-at-large play certain roles. They won't act merely as symbolic figures," said Chih-Cheng Lo (
Foreign Minister Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) pointed out at the Legislative Yuan in the middle of December that new ambassadors-at-large will be handpicked from five major sectors, including medical, women's rights, business, Aboriginal and human rights circles.
Teng Chung-chian (鄧中堅), chairman of the department of diplomacy at National Chengchi University, gives a realistic expectation of the new device. "One should not go so far as to expect any major diplomatic breakthrough following the implementation of the new device. The significance, instead, is to see vitality from the private sector instilled into the bureaucratic system," Teng said.
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