Democracy key to diplomacy
Two weeks and various Ministry of Foreign Affairs statements later, I am still confused about Taiwan's decision to preemptively sever diplomatic ties with Nauru. This bafflement continues even after your interview with Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
Chien reiterated the point that, unlike China's, Taiwan's diplomacy is mainly prompted by a genuine wish "to give back to the global community" and to bring genuine benefit to the recipient countries. Chien emphasized the uniqueness of Taiwanese aid. But who really knew what type of aid Taiwan was providing to develop Nauru? And how many even knew where Nauru was before this debacle?
The reality is that this need to give back to the global community has never been a central tenet of Taiwanese diplomacy -- not now for Nauru and certainly never in the past. It was not so long ago that Taiwan maintained, in good conscience, diplomatic relations with the apartheid regime in South Africa. Not to mention that Taiwan had diplomatic ties with the military governments of El Salvador and Guatemala during their bloody civil wars in the 1980s.
Financial diplomacy remains where it has always been: at the core of Taiwan's foreign policy. Only those countries with little trade with China can "afford" their diplomatic ties with Taiwan. And only those that have been financially disappointed by China turn to Taiwan for a better aid package.
Beyond money politics, Taiwan will pay a significant price for this diplomatic hypocrisy. The key to international recognition for Taiwan is not a game of numbers involving small countries like Nauru. It will not be discussed within the context of "diplomatic allies" or be based on the amount of foreign aid that the country disburses.
The key to the thorny issue of recognition for Taiwan lies within our transformation from a society under martial law to a democracy. The existence of a democratic Taiwan alone rebuts the claim made by the Chinese leadership that democracy and human rights are Western values that are not compatible with the Chinese tradition. Democratization has already carved out diplomatic space for the existence of Taiwan -- space in which Taiwan's security and national dignity can be discussed.
Chien was right to say our largest comparative advantage lies in our democratic system of government. By continuing to remain on our diplomatic and rhetorical high-horse, however, Taiwan will be unable to fully capitalize on this comparative advantage by effectively mobilizing international public support for our existence.
Bonny Ling
Taipei
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