Pity William Li (厲威廉), Taiwan's erstwhile representative in Macau. Li stands in danger of losing his job for acting out of that most diplomatic of foibles, caution. His sin was to see trouble coming and take action to ward it off.
On Sunday, just before midnight, and the handover of Macau to China, he had the signboards outside the offices of the Taipei Trade and Tourism Office on the 9th and 15th floors of the Commercial Central building in Macau removed and placed inside the offices -- though still visible through the window. Another sign in the ground floor lobby directory of the building was also turned over to hide the office's name.
There is some lack of clarity about whether he acted with the authorization of his bosses at the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). Li was quoted by local newspapers as saying that he had received approval for making the move. But if that is the case then we are at a loss to know why Lee should have been recalled.
He has been accused of "mishandling" the affair, but it is still unclear what he has done wrong. Did he cover the lobby sign or is his sin that he did not mount guard over it to see that nobody else did. Did he have permission to remove the two hallway signs or not?
Perhaps few people will care that these questions are properly answered. But we do, because we would like to know if Li acted off his own bat, or with the approval of his superiors and just what kind of approval he might have had. It is hardly believable that consideration had not been given to the position of Li's office post-handover and orders sent to Li to carry it out.
If Li received instructions that he disobeyed, then there is a disciplinary matter to resolve. If he received no direction, then perhaps we should ask whether he deserves to lose his job for using his initiative.
Li's sin was, apparently, that he took action that belittled Taiwan. The argument seems to be that if Macau's new government ordered the removal of the signs then that would be an international affront that Taiwan could have made public relations capital out of. Li's action, however, by preempting official Macau demands, showed a willingness to comply with the wishes of Macau's new masters in Beijing that was exactly the opposite of the message Taiwan wanted to send.
But there is a defense of Li. Assuming that he did not act against previously received explicit instructions and assuming that he was acting of his own accord, what was he trying to achieve? The avoidance of conflict between his office and Macau authorities. Did he have reason to think that such conflict was likely? Absolutely. Li's office was given to understand in no uncertain terms before the handover that the signs would be removed by force and the name of the office would have to change. These demands were common currency in Macau during the weekend of the handover. Li, therefore, appears to have been trying to safeguard his office as best he could.
Perhaps he should not have been willing to pay such a price. But the truth is that he was only doing what Taiwan has done in so many cases before, putting up with almost any humiliation to keep a foot in the international door -- the acceptance of the name Chinese Taipei as a working title in the World Trade Organization being only the latest example. So if Li made a mistake, it is that he assumed that humiliating compromise was the overriding policy of his government in all cases.
How could he have guessed that this time Taiwan preferred to show some backbone?
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