Fri, Jun 02, 2000 page12

• Editorial: A new face for Taiwan's diplomacy

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  It must be admitted that Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) has one of the most difficult jobs in the new government. The crux of the problem, of course, is the unusual position in which Taiwan finds itself in the world, courtesy of the "one China" issue -- particularly the misuse of it by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to pull Taiwan out of the UN.

  But that is not the complete roll of Tien's travails. Taiwan has built up an unsavory reputation for "dollar diplomacy," of rewarding any and all governments that support Taiwan with cash payments. To some extent this practice has been exaggerated by domestic critics: some of Taiwan's allies are respec-table, democratic countries (Costa Rica, Senegal, Macedonia, etc.) and much of the aid that Taiwan has offered is just as worthy as that given by all developed countries to the Third World.

  But there are plenty of darker sides, including the unquestioning support of sick regimes such as the former junta in Guatemala and the warlord-turned-president of Liberia (not to mention the apartheid regime in South Africa). Certainly, in some cases questionable payments were made under the table to such rulers. Tien must have been shocked by the data contained in the financial records, if indeed he has been able to access the most secret files.

  For there is yet another level of difficulty to his job, which is that much of foreign policy making has actually been taken out of the ministry's hands, in particular by the National Security Council. This body was frequently used by former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to circumvent the official bureaucracy, for example in the surprise decision to grant a massive US$300 million aid package to Kosovo. The fact that Lee took to this practice in part because he doubted the loyalty of some of the diplomats will not reassure Tien.

  The challenge is to find some way to reverse this negative image of Taiwan in the diplomatic arena. Tien's proposals for a "human rights diplomacy" are a step in the right direction. A direct linkage must be made between Taiwan's increasingly praised democracy and its foreign policy practice. Consorting in the shadows with dictators and warlords is obviously not an appropriate strategy. Working with respected NGOs on progressive topics such as human rights, humanitarian assistance and protection of the environment looks much more promising.

  Of course, all diplomacy, no matter how legitimate, requires money. The question is how is the money to be used and what benefits will it bring? No new diplomatic ally is worth damaging Taiwan's hard-won democratic credentials. The constituencies for all Taiwan's efforts need to be defined more broadly, to include not only recipient governments, but also their citizens, as well as opinion leaders throughout the international community.

  As for the specific idea of human rights diplomacy, the most important aspect of this is to make continuous, good faith efforts to improve Taiwan's own human rights record, and then to make sure that the international community is aware of them. President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inaugural address included some intriguing suggestions, such as ratification of treaties and creation of a national human rights commission. These moves, and others such as enacting political asylum laws, if executed sincerely, have the potential to yield significant benefits in the global court of public opinion.

  The sad fact is that there are too many people in the world who still think of Taiwan as a right-wing banana republic; many more cannot distinguish between Taiwan and China. The ultimate mission of the foreign ministry must be to erase these impressions.
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