Because of China's machinations, Taiwan's bid to become a World Health Assembly (WHA) observer was excluded from the assembly agenda during a committee discussion on May 13. Beijing's obstruction was nothing new. In the hopes of entering the WHO at one stroke, however, Taiwan made some strategic mistakes in actively mobilizing domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to take part in the effort.
Ever since the DPP government took office, it has pushed local NGOs hard to get on track with the international community on issues such as human rights, humanitarian assistance, international development and cooperation, international medical treatment and environmental protection. None of this is directly related to Taiwan's diplomacy, but such efforts can certainly indirectly add value to the nation's diplomatic efforts.
Official diplomacy and NGO activities may be "different approaches to the same ends," as the old Chinese saying goes, but they are fundamentally different. By mixing NGO functions with "track one" diplomacy, Taiwan has placed itself in an even worse position given the current international situation.
There is no doubt that official diplomatic negotiations and bilateral aid can accomplish immediate diplomatic goals -- as a large amount of financial aid may turn a recipient into an official ally overnight. NGO activities, however, are exchanges between civilians, not governments.
Moreover, overseas NGO work is only effective in certain fields. Expanding such influence to a wider dimension -- in order to interact with, or even influence, foreign governments -- would be both difficult and time-consuming. If Taiwan, therefore, uses NGOs as a tool for pursuing instant diplomatic goals, it will obviously have misused the unique qualities of these groups.
This time the NGOs involved, such as the Foundation of Tai-wan Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan (
What is worth considering, however, is that NGOs have always stoutly defended their independence from the government. They should be especially cautious when handling cases with obvious diplomatic or political overtones. It is an undeniable fact that some domestic NGOs have on certain important occasions been relentlessly pressured by Beijing when providing human-itarian assistance overseas.
After domestic medical NGOs worked in support of Taiwan's bid, China unfortunately placed an "equals" sign between Tai-wanese NGOs and the government. Our NGOs, moreover, are also suspected by the international community of pursuing diplomatic or political objectives.
Finally, from the perspective of morality or justice, the international community has always sympathized with Taiwan's situation. But from the perspective of political reality, it is undeniable that the world still yields to China.
In such unfavorable political circumstances, enabling Taiwan's NGOs -- with the help of official diplomacy -- to give full play to their functions overseas while building long-standing partnerships with foreign nations and people, should definitely be considered one of Taiwan's mid-to long-term strategic goals.
Through the recognition and support of civil society in foreign countries, Taiwan can gradually improve its diplomatic and political influence overseas, although this will take time and can only be done in a sophisticated and subtle way. Such a task undoubtedly reflects the indispensable function of the nation's NGOs.
Lin Teh-chang is director of the Center for International NGO Studies at National Sun Yat-Sen University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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