Sun, Jul 14, 2002 page3

• Chen gains diplomatic experience

  FOREIGN POLICY Some analysts say opposition criticism of the president's foreign trips lacks vision and is just a bunch of groundless accusations

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  When running for the presidency in 2000, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was criticized for lacking experience in international affairs. But while opposition criticism continues, the president has successfully promoted himself and the country in the international community through three diplomatic trips.

  "Despite poor performance on the domestic front, President Chen has grasped international trends during the past two years, especially the change of leadership in the US. He has made concrete achievements in the diplomatic field," said Lin Bin-jaw (林碧炤), a professor of diplomacy at National Chengchi University.

  "However, criticism from opposition politicians, which in most democratic countries is normal behavior, lacked a clear vision and simply amounted to vicious accusations. Take, for example, criticism that the president wasted the country's money, and the [opposition's] humiliation of Taiwan's allies," Lin said.

  Lin stressed that the theme of Chen's diplomatic policy over past two-and-a-half years has been "multilateral participation," which includes pushing for multilateral dialogue and attending international events.

  "I think the president is carrying out his campaign promise -- that of `neo-internationalism' [for Taiwan]," Lin said.

  Deputy Secretary-General to the President Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) expanded on the meaning of "neo-internationalism," saying it calls on Taiwan to develop diplomatic relations by adopting a diversified strategy, rather than maintaining the "economic assistance" model used of the previous administration.

  "Since taking office two years ago, Chen has taken three overseas trips and visited Africa twice. Through transit diplomacy, democratic diplomacy, head-of-state diplomacy, economic and trade diplomacy as well as humanitarian diplomacy, Chen has been implementing his multilateral diplomatic strategies, fleshing out what he termed `neo-internationalism' for Taiwan," Wu said.

  Not long after the transition of power in 2000, Chen visited eight of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in Central America and Africa and reassured Taiwan's friends abroad that the country's foreign policy would remain steady and consistent.

  In the name of transit diplomacy and democratic diplomacy, Chen's trips allowed him to quickly familiarize himself with international affairs.

  On his visit to five Latin American allies between late May and early June last year, Chen made a stopover in New York and conducted a series of unprecedented diplomatic activities. Some 20 US Congressmen flew to New York to meet with the Taiwanese president and publicly praised Chen for his devotion to Taiwan's democratic reform and human rights.

  During the summit meeting with heads of state from eight Latin American countries later that year, foreign-policy officials in Chen's administration tried to connect Taiwan with more international organizations. They have joined the System of Integration of Central America in an effort to make connections with the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which is set to be formally established in 2005.

  "The foreign-policy team also took the opportunity to review the way in which the government assisted its allies in establishing economic and trade zones," Wu said. "The government made efforts to distance itself from criticism of checkbook diplomacy."

  In his second year in office, Chen was relying on head-of-state diplomacy and economic and trade diplomacy.

  As he began the second half of his tenure, Chen made an all-out effort to push for Taiwan's entry into the WHO.

  In making the WHO bid, the Presidential Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- with the themes of sanitation improvement and medical aid -- planned the third overseas visit to Africa.

  The purpose of the visit was to promote humanitarianism and demonstrate Taiwan's sincerity and strength as a member of the global community. This time, humanitarian diplomacy is the overarching idea.

  Chen has pledged to visit all of Taiwan's 28 diplomatic allies during his presidency, and managed to travel to 15 of them.

  "Not intimidated by the opposition parties' derision, he tried to tell people about his ideas for the nation's diplomacy every step of the way," Lin said. "Most importantly, his visits boosted the morale of those Taiwanese who devoted their time and energy to places far away from home."

  But what has been done could easily be undone.

  A piece of news could kill a secret diplomatic activity before it bears fruit and irrational criticism or careless comments by opposition parties could easily erase what people in the diplomatic services have worked tirelessly to achieve, Wu said.
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