Jason Hu resigned from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in order to run the campaign headquarters of Lien Chan and Vincent Siew. Hu's move stirred up heated discussions. His new post is certainly a recognition of his ability. In fact, the KMT once considered nominating him for the Taipei mayoral seat. Now, the KMT has asked Hu to accomplish an impossible mission.
Hu's two-year term as Minister of Foreign Affairs may have been brief, but his performance was superb. He is personable and quick wited. Newspapers ran a picture of him helping Panama's female president crossing a river during his most recent visit to Panama. This heroic act of ?aving a damsel in distress?demonstrated Hu's admirable quick wits and diplomatic etiquette.
Succeeding him as Minister of Foreign Affairs is the Director-General of Information Office, Chen Chien-jen, a veteran diplomat. Chen previously served in a variety of posts, including Director-General of North American Affairs, Deputy Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Overseas Chinese Affairs Commissioner, as well as an at-large member of the Legislative Yuan. Chen has perfect credentials.
In the past, there have been repeated media rumors that Chen was being appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs; this rumor is finally a reality.
What concerns us most is whether the new minister will simply follow Hu's footsteps or will he devise a new diplomatic strategy and implement refreshing policies between now and the inauguration of the new president next May? With Chen's experience and prior role as an administrator of the ?ne China?policy, will he depart from traditions?
When Chen was a member of the Legislative Yuan, he, in fulfilling his supervisory role, repeatedly criticized and voiced skepticism about certain policies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) which really upset the then minister. Hopefully, now that Chen is in charge of Taiwan's foreign policy he will make ?ew waves.?P>
Following are some of my recommendations.
1. Carry out the ?pecial state-to-state?policy ?do what you say.
The ?pecial state-to-state relation?policy declared by President Lee Teng-hui not only accurately describes the status quo, but is also consistent with the DPP's demand that the Taiwan people and the international community acknowledge the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as two countries independent from each other. Lee's declaration symbolizes a consensus in Taiwan on our national status and the expansion of Taiwan's international space.
MOFA should instruct Taiwan's diplomatic representatives abroad to actively publicize the ?pecial state-to-state relationship?with China and implement this policy. MOFA should provide a convincing statement to help the international community understand that Taiwan is an independent sovereign country and the true nature of the cross-strait relationship.
2. Join international organizations under the name ?aiwan.?
Although Taiwan's efforts to join the United Nations in the past seven years have been unsuccessful, we must not be discouraged. Beijing's bid for China's UN seat succeeded only after a 21-year uphill battle. North Korea and South Korea both applied for UN memberships at least a dozen times before they joined the world body in 1992.
Taiwan's entry into the UN will encounter far more difficulties due to China's deliberate opposition, but our countrymen have long come into grip with the difficulties entailed.
Taipei must apply for UN mem-bership under the name ?aiwan,?because many UN members find the name of ?epublic of China?(ROC) unacceptable, as it implies sovereignty over the Chinese mainland.
As the US, Britain, Russia and Japan, among others, have long recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC), these countries naturally cannot accept the name of ?OC.?This explains why Taiwan had to either change its name to preserve its membership in Asian Development Bank and other international organizations or enter them under another name.
For example, Taiwan has applied for WTO membership under the name of ?ustoms Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Matsu, and Kinmen.?Therefore, Taiwan has a lot better chance of joining the UN under the name of ?aiwan.?P>
The battle to join the UN is a long one. Although Taiwan cannot enter the UN through the ?ront door?for the moment, it could try to participate in various UN economic, social and cultural activities through the ?ide?or ?ack?door and demonstrate flexibility in the name used to enter these specialized agencies. Our countrymen should have a long-term vision and put aside the short-term immediate interests by providing aid to the international community and organizations. Someday, Taiwan's contributions will be reciprocated and rewarded by the international community. By then, it would be difficult for Beijing to keep Taipei out of the UN.
3. Promote democracy, human rights and humanitarian diplomacy.
A great distinction between Taiwan and China is that Taiwan is a free and democratic society and a country that respects human rights. Taiwan should be a guardian of freedom, democracy and human rights in the world, and actively promote these international mainstream values.
For years, Taiwan's non-governmental organizations, out of a spirit of empathy and kindness, have taken the initiative to participate in humanitarian relief efforts worldwide and provided generous financial contributions. These efforts have been highly acclaimed by international community. For example, Master Cheng-yen of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation won an international humanitarian award from UNPO in 1997.
Taiwan's work in foreign affairs should coordinate and mobilize resources from the private sector to promote human rights diplomacy and humanitarian relief work. These are arenas that Taiwan can excel in and in which China can never become a match for Taiwan.
4. Readjust our foreign affair resources ?don't overemphasize the US and overlook other regions.
The importance of the US to Taiwan's diplomacy, security and economic prosperity goes without saying. For this reason, we have a representative office in Washington, DC, and offices (the equivalent of consulate-general offices) in 12 major cities, such as New York and Los Angeles. Considerable financial resources and manpower have been allocated to these offices.
In my view, we cannot afford to neglect our diplomatic efforts in Japan, Australia and Europe and should allocate more diplomatic resources to these areas, especially Europe.
5. Strengthen the diplomatic team.
MOFA job assignments and promotions are not often based on talent and expertise. If Taiwan wishes to score in this new international order and successfully rise to the new military, diplomatic and economic challenges it faces, then the government must strengthen its diplomatic team. Talent must be recruited from the academic, industrial and business sectors. Taiwan's diplomatic tasks in the future will be very difficult, and therefore, the best and the brightest diplomats are required.
MOFA should discard its past personnel policy and conservative traditions and systematically map out a plan to recruit new talent. It should recruit a group of innovative and creative people to fashion and promote a new diplomatic strategy.
6. Expand resources for the foreign affairs.
To broaden Taiwan's foreign relations, Taiwan must increase the resources devoted to this purpose. Under our excessively conservative financial policies, the government neither dares nor knows how to explore and efficiently utilize available resources, which constitute a waste and a loss.
For example, Taiwan currently has US$100 billion in foreign reserves deposited mostly in US, Japanese and European banks. The return on these foreign reserves are minimal. If we ask professional international investment companies to invest 10 percent of our foreign reserves, the resulting overall return would be much higher. Every year, we would earn several billion US dollars which could be used to financially support our foreign affairs efforts.
To play it safe, the government does not dare to adopt a more creative approach in managing Taiwan's foreign reserves and various group retirement funds which exceed more than NT$3 trillion (US$100 billion). If the government so chooses, it currently has more than US$15 billion available for investment in the international market.
In conclusion, the government should be more innovative and willing to take initiatives. As the international financial market lacks capital, if Taiwan utilizes its enormous capital creatively, it would not only strengthen its bilateral relations with the countries in which it invests, but also elevate its influences in the international community directly.
Parris Chang is the chairman of International Committee of the Legislative Yuan and a professor emeritus of political science at Pennsylvania State University.
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