Experts laud pre-emptive move to cut off Skopje ties

Taiwan's announcement Monday of the severing of diplomatic ties with Macedonia, coming before the signing of a joint communique between Macedonia and China to normalize relations between the latter two states, was applauded by experts as a move to equalize the score in the diplomatic tug-of-war between Taipei and Beijing.

But experts remained split over whether Taiwan should retain a presence in the Balkan state, with some saying "a minimal presence" could serve as a base from which to develop bilateral ties while others argued that resources should be diverted to other, major European powers.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not done a bad job [by taking the initiative to break ties with Macedonia]," said Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), deputy director of the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University.

Lin Cheng-yi (林正義), director of the Institute of European and American Studies at Academia Sinica, echoed Wu's view.

"This move indicated that the foreign ministry intended to show the public that it had exhausted last-ditch efforts [to retain diplomatic ties], and the decision was made only after it was clear that there was no longer any prospect of doing so," Lin said.

Lin praised Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) in particular for his visit to Macedonia last month to make a final attempt to secure ties. The foreign ministry made its announcement at a press conference at 11am on Monday, only 30 minutes after Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva arrived in Beijing to normalize relations between Skopje and Beijing.

Ministry spokesperson Katharine Chang (張小月) said that Taiwan decided to break ties with Macedonia after learning that some Macedonian political party leaders who had originally sided with Taipei had shifted positions to support the normalization of relations with Beijing during a meeting between Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski and various political party leaders over the weekend.

Ties between Taipei and Skopje appeared vulnerable after a May 13 government reshuffle in Skopje in which anti-Taiwan forces were integrated into the coalition government.

But analysts held mixed views on the foreign ministry's decision not to retain a representative office in Skopje after breaking ties with Macedonia.

Lin said such a move amounted "to pulling out by the roots" and in the long run might not be conducive to Taiwan's efforts to develop diplomatic relations in the Balkan region.

"I think that a minimal presence should be retained," he said.

But Wu held a different view, saying the foreign ministry should divert resources originally invested in the crisis-torn Balkan state to other major European powers instead.

"Considering the chaotic situation in Macedonia, it remains questionable when the foreign investment from Taiwan can yield any substantive returns there," Wu said.

Wu revealed that during a recent social function, a US diplomat, before his departure from Taiwan, said Taiwan should consider diverting resources invested in countries like Macedonia to major European powers to maximize its influence in Europe.

"The official said that if these resources could be utilized to lobby parliamentarians in Germany, the UK and France in the same manner that resources were used to lobby politicians on Capitol Hill, Taiwan's diplomatic space would be enlarged," Wu said.