Tue, Sep 24, 2002 page8

• Taiwan has to expand PR offensive

  • By Nat Bellocchi 白樂崎
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  Recent efforts to draw attention in the US and around the world to Taiwan's anti-terrorism efforts have been encouraging. Taiwan has always been extraordinarily adept at government-to-government relations, but its public relations have not always been strong. If this is the forerunner of a future emphasis on worldwide public relations, it comes just in time.

  Discussions these days about the changes in today's Taiwan and its relations with the US and across the Taiwan Strait generally begin with the transition of power in 2000. But when it comes to its external relationships, some of the changes we see have not been the results of a different administration, but rather because of changed circumstances externally.

  For example, Taiwan's security relationship has changed. There has been much more attention given to the commitment made in the Taiwan Relations Act, and in the US' regional security interests. But this has had far more to do with a new administration in Washington than with the one in Taipei.

  The greater respect that has been shown to senior Taiwanese officials as they transit through or visit the US has at least as much to do with the greater respect shown Taiwan's democracy (bolstered by the act of democratically changing its government) and the need for better communications between the senior levels of both governments, as it has a more rigorous effort by Taiwan to gain that respect.

  The slowdown in worldwide economic growth and the growing economic strength of China's east coast have both been external conditions that have had at least as much to do with the Taiwan business sector's "China fever" as the government's lifting of many barriers to this interchange.

  In a democracy, it is inevitable that much of these changes are cloaked in domestic political terms. The good and the bad, the accomplishments and the mistakes, are all claimed or disclaimed by the opposition and their leaders. Would one side do it better than the others is the speculation that fosters debate. It is not surprising, then, that outside observers tend to develop and analyze that which is more based on perceptions and biases then on reality.

  This is especially true when observing events in Taiwan, where political positions are based not only on ideological differences but on a difference in national identity as well. But it also causes the analysis to overlook the limits of power and the need to heed public opinion that is now embedded in Taiwan's political system. The adversaries on either side of the Strait are playing with different sets of rules, and this is too commonly not taken into account.

  The rapid and very fundamental economic change occurring in Taiwan is taking place under these conditions, and brings with it other issues of great impor-tance. China fever is not a new phenomenon, and it will not be effectively tempered except by changing circumstances in China. This growing economic dependency brings with it the even greater need for Taiwan to be seen, be heard and participate in the international community.

  Beijing clearly understands this and has greatly expanded its efforts to isolate Taiwan. Surprisingly, the media in Taiwan only sporadically informs its readers of some of these efforts. Perhaps it has become so commonplace that it is no longer newsworthy. Even more surprisingly, the government does not seem to give a high priority to vigorously highlighting these transgressions to its own public. Perhaps not doing so helps maintain a stable economy, but it leaves the public less informed about this danger.

  If this is not sufficiently impor-tant or newsworthy for domestic consumption, it is totally absent in the international media. Much is done through government channels of course, but it is clearly no longer sufficient -- if it ever was. Taiwan needs the support of democracies worldwide if it ever hopes to participate in the international community. But in the corridors of democratic governments everywhere, under these conditions, bucking the pressures put on them by their own economic interests is not worth the troubles it would generate. It becomes worth the effort only if the public (ie, their voters) call for such support on moral grounds.

  Public relations efforts that will inform people at the grassroots level as well as other governments may be a very difficult and costly undertaking, but it also may be well worth the effort. A recent example of this negative thinking comes up in the voices being heard in Taiwan that press for reduction in defense spending (while across the Strait the defense budget is going in the opposite direction).

  While the US sells arms, not giving them, it nonetheless pays another kind of price for doing so. For Taiwan, explaining to the foreign public (as well its own) that people have the right to debate such issues, but that the government remains firm in building an adequate defense, is needed.

  Making its own public and the international community aware about the other threats Taiwan faces -- in addition to the military one -- could help garner more support for Taiwan's participation in some form in the international community. It could reduce the irritation of what appears to foreign observers as sudden and provocative reactions as well.

  I seriously doubt the international community is well informed about the many efforts, and the many successes that China has had in blocking Taiwan's participation in international organizations, including non-government and strictly non-political ones. Reminding them from time to time will make the many legitimate political pressures Taiwan faces more understandable to fellow democracies, and make clearer who the real troublemakers are.

  Nat Bellocchi is the former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and is now a special adviser to the Liberty Times Group. The views expressed in this article are his own.
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