Sun, Apr 09, 2023 page8

• Soft power should guide diplomacy

  • By Manik Mehta
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  After Honduras cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, leaving it with 13 UN-recognized diplomatic allies, the government should seek to strengthen the nation’s soft power, which would enable it to expand its sphere of influence and create an international reservoir of goodwill.

  While diplomatic ties provide a semblance of respectability and many advantages to a state, Taiwan maintains unofficial ties with key countries worldwide. Its unofficial representative offices abroad might not bear the nomenclature of embassies or consulates, but they are de facto diplomatic missions.

  Honduras’ severance of relations might be a diplomatic setback, but it has also, surprisingly, generated more sympathy for Taiwan, as comments by analysts and experts in the US, European and even Asian media suggest.

  Taiwan “has all the traits of a well-functioning state, with a thriving economy, a vibrant democracy with an independent judiciary and a free press, religious tolerance ... it is also a key player in global trade, technological innovation,“ US strategic affairs expert David Fox said.

  Fox is part of an international chorus that believes that although Taiwan might have “lost” Honduras, the ranks of its international admirers and supporters have increased. They contend that Taiwan has all the characteristics of a state in its own right, despite China’s efforts to poach its diplomatic allies, as the Honduras case illustrates.

  Indeed, foreign politicians and high-profile emissaries have visited Taiwan.

  During her recent visit to Taiwan, Czech Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova told Taiwanese lawmakers that Taiwanese and Czech people were bound together by freedom and democracy.

  “Developing freedom and democracy is our responsibility,” she said. “I guarantee you, we are with you now, we will continue to be with you and under any circumstances we are in the same boat together. Because you are with us, so we are with you.”

  Czech President Petr Pavel was in January criticized by Beijing for accepting a telephone call from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

  US lawmakers have also visited Taiwan, but last year’s visit by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi stood out prominently, with China’s fighter jets frequently crossing into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.

  A delegation of British lawmakers, including members of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, visited Taiwan in November last year, attracting the usual bile from China.

  British lawmaker Alicia Kearns, the committee’s chairperson, described her Taiwan visit as a “priority for the foreign affairs committee.”

  The US is Taiwan’s principal backer, although Washington’s “one China” policy accepts Beijing as the single representative of China and, in effect, denies Taiwan’s existence. Washington strongly opposes China’s use of force to annex Taiwan.

  There is a growing realization in the US — as well as in Europe and parts of Asia — that China’s aggressive policy should not be accepted. In India, for instance, there is widespread resentment against China’s saber-rattling and its attempts at “salami slicing,” referring to slicing away territory that India claims, as has happened along the India-China borders in the Himalayas.

  There is considerable sympathy among a vast majority of Indians for Taiwan. While China’s hard power might have grown because of its economic and military strength, its muscular approach fails to generate goodwill and inspire people elsewhere; the loud chest-thumping by its so-called “wolf warrior” diplomats has only fueled resentment among many nations, including recipients of Chinese financial loans that are caught in debt traps.

  “China never gives you a free lunch. It collects its pound of flesh,” one Sri Lankan businessman living in New York said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

  Taiwan’s soft power, still in its infancy, can mature into an effective tool if it moves diligently toward that goal.

  The term “soft power” has evolved from its original definition; Harvard University professor Joseph Nye has identified it with US culture as a tool to push its international image and affect other countries.

  Other nations have also recognized the value of soft power. India, for example, has over the past few years built itself into a powerful soft power state whose influence is manifested in many forms — yoga, cuisine, Bollywood, fashion, music, religion, mysticism, festivals, ancient civilization, etc. Japan and South Korea have also effectively used soft power to push foreign policy objectives and make inroads on foreign soil.

  Taiwan can highlight its commitment to democracy (making China appear in a poor light), along with its attributes as a peace-loving, economically successful and, most importantly, free country in which people not only exercise their voting rights, but are also free to criticize their elected leaders.

  Contrast this with China: Even the powerful Chinese Communist Party Politburo members would not dare voice even a hint of criticism against Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

  Taiwan’s soft power rests on two pillars — democracy and culture. Taiwan’s democracy is based on a set of values that includes the rule of law, human rights, social rights and the restraint of state power. Culture is the second pillar; even though the cultures of China and Taiwan share many common traits, this would require Taiwan to chisel its cultural characteristics in a sharper way.

  The term culture can include various segments of life in Taiwan, ranging from religious tolerance to cuisine, fashion (a gala fashion show recently organized by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York marking International Women’s Day was well attended) and the fine arts.

  Taiwan has to project its culture to the world, including its progressive reforms, such as its recognition of indigenous communities (contrasting sharply with the plight of Tibetans and Uighurs in China) and LGBT voices. Not many people know that about 40 percent of Taiwanese lawmakers are women, arguably one of the world’s highest rates of female representation in parliament.

  Indeed, Taiwan’s president is a woman, and unlike other female presidents in other parts of Asia, she does not come from a political dynasty.

  Old-style diplomacy does have its merits, but we live in different times with different priorities and have different tools to achieve these goals.

  Manik Mehta is a New York-based journalist who covers foreign affairs, diplomacy, the UN, US bilateral relations, global economics and trade.
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