President Chen Shui-bian's (
"President Chen was very cordial in his attitude and manner while interacting with others, which helped bridge the language barriers between him and foreign leaders he met," said former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Tao-ming (
The features that characterize the president's manner when spearheading the nation's diplomacy abroad are being energetic and approachable, and getting others to closely identify themselves with him, Chen Tao-ming said.
PHOTO: YAO CHIA-SHOU
For instance, when dining with President of Palau Tommy Remengesau and President of the Marshall Islands Kessai Note at a banquet held in Palau, Chen, noting that Taiwan, Palau and the Marshall Islands are all maritime countries who share similarities in terms of their maritime cultures, addressed both Remengesau and Note as his "elder brothers" in his speech.
Such friendly style of addressing others helped close the distance between him and the two national leaders, some observed.
During his stay in Palau, Chen made his first attempt at snorkeling during the second day of his state visit to the South Pacific nation, which is famous for its diving spots. He also rode on a speedboat driven by Remengesau, for a sightseeing tour of Palau's Rock Island.
When his travel took him to the Solomon Islands, a beaming Chen, rather than simply leaving after the banquet held in his honor, approached the local performers who were dancing and performing with bamboo-made panpipes.
Chen was seen making a go at playing the local traditional drum as surrounding performers of the Solomon Islands eagerly played along.
"Such actions undoubtedly left a favorable impression with the locals," said Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文), another member of Chen's entourage.
During a gathering with the Taiwanese press corps traveling with him, Chen noted that "it is very hard for [Taiwan's] national leader to promote diplomatic affairs. That's why in the past our heads of nation did not make visits to countries such as those in the Africa or Central America where there are allies of ours with whom we have decades of diplomatic ties."
"I can proudly say that the allies that I have visited are the ones that still have diplomatic ties [with Taiwan]," Chen said, adding that "all those that have severed ties with Taiwan are ones that I have not visited."
"A-bian style of diplomacy is one that plays much on boa gam chin (
By no means does that mean that Chen's diplomatic trip to the South Pacific was all play and no work, Chen Tao-ming pointed out.
In this trip, international media such as the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) and the Kyoto News of Japan dispatched reporters to travel along with Chen.
Images of Chen trying snorkeling and being kissed by a dolphin while in Palau were captured by the international media and broadcast to the world, raising Taiwan's visibility.
Chen also took every opportunity, whether in his speeches at the parliaments in Palau and the Solomon Islands or in remarks at state banquets, to let the world hear Taiwan's eagerness for peace, and determination to consolidate its democracy, observers said.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,