The “diplomatic truce” with China has always been one political achievement that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been proud of.
However, if Taiwanese diplomacy means currying favor with China, envoys neglecting their duties and saying things that are harmful to the nation’s image, while allies look to switch diplomatic recognition to China because the Taiwanese government is too passive — then Taiwan’s foreign policy is in deep trouble.
If Ma continues the diplomatic truce and continues to feel good about it, Taiwan’s foreign relations will one day collapse and the nation’s international space along with it.
The government recently recalled representative to Singapore Vanessa Shih (史亞平). Various reasons were given for the recall and the public was left guessing.
Some said it was because Shih displayed the Republic of China (ROC) flag and sang the national anthem on National Day, while others said it was because she met with Singaporean opposition leaders.
These guesses and the fact that Shih’s successor still has not been accepted by Singapore have had a negative impact on bilateral relations.
They have also brought to light cracks in the government’s insistence that Beijing subscribes to the so-called “1992 consensus” — that there is “one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what ‘China’ means.”
Aside from the Shih issue, which has yet to be resolved, there have been reports that Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), who was said to be in the city-state in the middle of last month to attend the Singapore Air Show, was actually there to conduct military exchanges with his Singaporean counterparts.
As a result of these media reports, the Singaporean government launched a strong protest and broke off military cooperation and exchanges with Taiwan, revealing that the military exchanges between the two countries — of which Ma has been very proud — were not as good as they were said to be.
The government’s inability to manage relations with Singapore has raised questions about its ability to manage relations with the nation’s diplomatic allies and other countries.
Prior to the presidential election in January, Jacqueline Liu (劉姍姍), the former director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas City, Missouri, embarrassed Taiwan when she was arrested by the FBI on charges of mistreating her two Philippine housekeepers.
To everyone’s surprise, the government first claimed that Liu was covered by diplomatic immunity, only to find out later that the Taiwan-US agreement limited diplomatic immunity to the execution of approved professional duties.
Worst still, Liu’s mistreatment of her housekeepers constituted a breach of human rights, which is unacceptable in most countries. When the Ma administration defended her, it further sullied the nation’s international image.
Since the diplomatic truce has become the top guiding principle for foreign affairs, the nation’s envoys, despite being aware of Taiwan’s difficult international situation, have been negligent in their duties and have on several occasions turned the nation into an international laughing stock.
The first secretary at the country’s representative office in Fiji, who was charged with sexually harassing a Fijian employee, is only one example. Even worse, then-representative to Fiji Victor Chin (秦日新), who was in charge of disciplining the secretary, used public funds to pay for dates with a female secretary at the Japanese representative office in Fiji.
When diplomats ignore their official duties to pursue their private interests, they are hurting the nation’s image. Who knows what other skeletons there are in the closets of our diplomats?
Since Ma launched his diplomatic truce, one would at least expect the nation’s envoys to have shown some self-restraint to avoid insulting China and embarrassing Ma. It might be too much to talk about securing new diplomatic allies, because maintaining and keeping the ones Taiwan has is already quite an achievement.
However, even this seems to be asking too much of the government. Last year, Ma extolled his own diplomatic achievements in a speech in Greater Tainan, saying that the government knew that at least three of the nation’s allies which had been seeking official relations with China had been rejected by it. Ma said this was a result of his flexible foreign policy, but what is more likely true is because of the diplomatic truce, Taiwan’s diplomatic allies want to try something new.
Taiwan’s diplomatic relations are about to come apart, yet Ma takes pride in the fact that China has rejected diplomatic relations with Taiwanese allies. Is that the behavior of a president of a sovereign nation?
Has China at least relented in its diplomatic pressure on Taiwan in exchange for Ma’s diplomatic truce? Not in the least. Last week, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson stressed that the Beijing government opposes any official contacts between Taiwan and China’s diplomatic allies, and that it opposes Taiwan’s participation in international organizations where membership is restricted to sovereign nations. Ma, despite his illusions of gaining international space for Taiwan in exchange for currying favor with China, has only been able to only has been able to obtain observer status for “Chinese Taipei.”
As a result of his neglect of foreign affairs, the basis for Taiwan’s international space is falling apart, and this long period of inaction on the government’s part has left Taiwan with no more room to maneuver in the diplomatic arena.
Ma should see things for what they are. The Taiwan Affairs Office is playing the good cop in China’s implementation of its Taiwan policy. Its goal is to soften up Ma and make him feel that the situation in the Taiwan Strait is more peaceful than it has ever been.
In the international arena, China’s foreign ministry is playing the bad cop. It is ambushing Taiwan at every turn, and whenever it feels like it, it is ready to take over all of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in an instant.
In foreign policy, the focus must be on autonomy and real power. Today, Ma is relying on China for everything he wants, so it comes as no surprise that he must beg China to offer Taiwan some temporary space in the international arena, such as relying on China to reject requests for official recognition from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
The diplomatic truce is a unilateral truce, and if Ma sticks to it, Taiwan is doomed.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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