Foreign affairs has always been one of Taiwan’s weakest links. It is particularly so at a time when China’s growing economic might has made it almost effortless for Beijing to sway countries — big or small, wealthy or poor — against Taiwan, which is still struggling to find its place in the international arena.
Every Taiwanese born after the nation’s 1972 expulsion from the UN grew up being perfectly aware of the battles, and sometimes humiliation, its diplomats face on a daily basis.
This awareness has made the public relatively more lenient toward foreign ministers than they would be toward other ministers, who could easily find themselves crippled by mounting pressure to step down in the event of a mishandled crisis.
However, the tide might soon turn against Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維).
A veteran diplomat with experience in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe, Lee’s stellar resume meant the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration overlooked his close ties with the pan-blue camp and promoted him to the highest position on the nation’s diplomatic career ladder.
Since Lee’s inauguration in May 2016, Taiwan has lost two diplomatic allies — Sao Tome and Principe, and Panama — to China, its trade mission in Nigeria was forced to move out of the capital, Abuja, and several of its overseas representative offices have been asked to remove the words Republic of China (ROC) from their titles.
The public was understanding in the aftermath of the above events, because they knew Beijing was behind these incidents of diplomatic humiliation. Some might have even thought to themselves: “No one can stop China from being China, right?”
However, patience started to run thin after the discovery in late December last year that the ministry mistakenly used an image of Washington Dulles International Airport in the new version of its biometric passport.
The error not only put a dent of NT$16.5 million (US$563,121) in the state’s coffers, but also raised questions about the collective competence of Lee’s ministry and whether it deserved to be excused from the diplomatic setbacks the nation had suffered since the DPP administration took office.
To make matters worse, Taiwan now stands to lose its only European diplomatic ally, the Holy See. Although there was no shortage of rumors over the past decade about Beijing and the Vatican coming close to reaching an agreement on who ordains bishops, the details seen in recent media reports make it difficult to dismiss the allegations as sheer speculation.
In the meantime, Taiwan’s ties with its most significant strategic partner, Washington, have also been called into question after several US government agencies removed the nation’s flag from their Web sites, starting in September last year.
The change sowed fears that the US has adopted a change of policy toward Taiwan. The sentiment was further reinforced on Thursday last week, when Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary at the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the flag’s removal was in line with Washington’s policy.
Although both sides have reiterated that their bilateral ties remain solid, Wednesday’s unusual news conference held by the ministry with a US congressional delegation in an apparent effort to demonstrate US-Taiwan friendship reeked of desperation.
With more and more media reports alleging Lee’s removal in an anticipated Cabinet reshuffle, the chance of the veteran diplomat surviving the spate of crises seems slimmer every day.
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