The announcement on Thursday by China and the Gambia that they were resuming diplomatic relations ruffled feathers in Taipei, although it had been 28 months since Gambian President Yahya Jammeh shocked the government by saying that he was breaking off diplomatic ties with the Republic of China.
Given the long delay in the resumption of the Beijing-Banjul palship, despite Jammeh’s blatant bid for Chinese patronage in 2013, the timing of the announcement — coming halfway through President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) swan song trip to Guatemala and Belize — was no coincidence.
Not only was it yet another in the steady drip, drip, drip of thinly veiled admonitions and overt warnings that Chinese officialdom have aimed at Taipei since the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections made Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) Ma’s successor, it is yet another slap in the face to Ma, as well as the “diplomatic truce/viable diplomacy” policy that he established in 2008 to end the years of checkbook diplomacy and ally poaching and boost cross-strait ties.
Ma’s response was predictably impotent.
Ma, in Belize, called the timing of the announcement “very inappropriate,” adding that “we have to voice our strong dissatisfaction,” while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would be alert to “possible suppression by Beijing in the international arena.”
However, the Mainland Affairs Council’s statement verged on the absurd, saying that the resumption of Chinese-Gambian ties could lead to “misunderstanding” among the international community about cross-strait relations and warning Beijing not to take “such negative unilateral actions.”
Not only is there no risk of the rest of the world, or Taiwan, misunderstanding what has occurred, but many people might wonder what consequences the council was talking about. It is the council, the ministry and the Presidential Office that have been deluding themselves that they have developed any influence with Beijing or are seen by it as having an equal seat at the table.
It has been China that has consistently set the agenda for cross-strait discussions and that has repeatedly made unilateral announcements on everything from new flight routes over the Taiwan Strait to the replacement of the paper “Taiwan Compatriot Permit” with a chip-embedded card.
All that Ma’s team, the ministry and the council have been able to do is issue feeble protests, promise to raise issues with Beijing and vow not to compromise Taiwan’s dignity — even as they do just that.
However, no one should be under any illusion about what attracted the Gambia to return to Beijing’s fold. It is all about the money.
While Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) in November 2013 refused to say just how much Jammeh had sought from Taiwan earlier that year to maintain ties, he did not deny a lawmaker’s claim that it had been more than US$10 million in cash.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica and Malawi received hundreds of millions of US dollars in loans and infrastructure projects from Beijing after switching their ties from Taipei in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
With more than a hint of schadenfreude, China’s Global Times yesterday said the cross-strait diplomatic truce “still held,” because it was unnecessary for Beijing to flex its muscles in a war over allies with Taiwan because the Taiwanese might feel oppressed.
Taiwanese have been feeling oppressed by Beijing for years — by its patronizing ways, its ignorance of them and contempt for them, not to mention all those missiles. Beijing’s contempt and oppression are among the reasons so many Taiwanese voters cast their ballots in January for change.
It is not up to Tsai’s incoming government to maintain cross-strait peace and stability, it is up to Beijing — it is the one who is upsetting the balance and making the threats.
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