Analysts also praised the foreign ministry's efforts to gain the private sector's support in Taiwan's diplomatic efforts. This has been achieved by promoting "people's diplomacy" in the hope that everyone in the country may become an ambassador of goodwill and by increasing the numbers of ambassadors-at-large.
But it remains premature to evaluate the repercussions of these initiatives, critics added.
"Most of the initiatives are still in the planning stage or are having their basic structure worked out. So it's too early to pass judgement just yet," Yang said.
But at a time when Taiwan's economy is slowing and China is evolving into an economic giant, some feel relieved that none of Taiwan's 29 allies switched ties from Taipei to Beijing over the past year.
"No allies were lost ... And no news is good news [in this aspect]," Yang said.
"At a time when Taiwan's economy looked gloomy, any loss of a diplomatic ally would be considered a vital setback and rather devastating," said Lo Chih-chen
Lo described Beijing's effort to isolate Taiwan internationally during the past year in a rather direct manner: "on the surface everything looks cool, but underneath the struggle has been fierce."
Future pressure
For instance, China's move to host the unprecedented Forum of Sino-African Cooperation and its subsequent creation of foreign aid programs such as the African Human Resources Fund, could put pressure on Taiwan in the long run, said Tao Wen-lung (陶文隆), director-general of the foreign ministry's Department of African Affairs.
Despite the ministry's ambitions to revamp Taiwan's diplomacy during the past year, diplomatic setbacks remained noticeable. Tien's announcement last December that a trade representative office would be set up in Egypt on a reciprocal basis by the end of the year saw no concrete developments due to intervention from Beijing.
Similarly, Taipei's request at the last Asian Development Bank meeting that it change its use of "Taipei, China" was likewise ignored. To add insult to injury, Taiwan's fifth attempt to become an observer of the World Health Organization was thwarted on Monday in Geneva.
Looking ahead, analysts said Tien should consider the delicate trade-off between securing Taiwan's allies and spending lots of money to secure existing ties.
"Since Tien is neither a member of the KMT or the DPP, he has faced many challenges both from within the government and from the outside. He cannot afford to lose any diplomatic allies, and thus practicing cash diplomacy is going to be indispensable for him," Wu said.
"But he should be brave enough to make some changes in this aspect. He should not be be frightened of saying that Taiwan does not mind losing two to three allies especially those that have blackmailed Taiwan for years," Wu said.
"It's a tough choice, but it's a choice he's going to have to make sooner or later," Wu added.
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