Mon, Aug 12, 2002 page3

• Building a bridge between Taiwan and Costa Rica

  Mao Kao-wen, Taiwan's ambassador to Costa Rica, is about to retire from his post after six years. With a PhD in chemical engineering, Mao was an academic long before he became a diplomat. `Taipei Times' staff reporter Ko Shu-ling caught up with Mao in Costa Rica to speak with him about his thoughts on the job, the country and the accomplishment he's most proud of -- the Taiwan Friendship Bridge

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  TT: You are about to step down from your post in August. Tell us about your impressions of the country and its people.

  Mao Kao-wen (毛高文): Costa Rica is a beautiful place and its people are great and full of energy and passion. They enjoy freedom especially when it comes to work. They embrace such universal values as freedom, democracy, peace and human rights. Its democratization process serves as an example for other countries in the region as well as in the world.

  As they believe "no national defense is the best defense," Costa Rica does not have any military, only domestic police forces, including the coast guard, air section and Ministry of Public Security Force.

  

  PHOTO: SU YUNG-YAO, TAIPEI TIMES

  Since their foreign policy is to replace national security with diplomacy, they have been making aggressive efforts to join international organizations.

  TT: China has been aggressively trying to woo countries in Central America, especially Taiwan's diplomatic allies, with money. How is the situation here?

  Mao: Since Costa Rica established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1940, we've been on good terms. The new [Abel] Pacheco administration (which took office May 8) is no exception.

  As both Taiwan and China are WTO members, the Pacheco administration understands very well that we would like to see the government handle its trade and diplomacy with Taiwan and China separately under the WTO framework.

  Since our resources are limited, it's impossible and impracticable for us to distribute a large sum of money here and there without seeing obvious results. What we do instead is to use our limited amount of money to help the Costa Rican government build its infrastructure.

  The amount of money may not be overwhelmingly large, but its added value is more rewarding and meaningful. Mutual trust is very important in maintaining diplomatic relations, and I don't think the friendship between Taiwan and Costa Rica is all that vulnerable because I believe they realize the fact that we genuinely care about them.

  TT: You just mentioned how we use our limited amount of money to help the Costa Rican government to build its infrastructure. Could you be more specific?

  Mao: The Taiwan Friendship Bridge is a good example. It has been high on the Costa Rican government's agenda to build a bridge connecting the Costa Rican mainland and Nicoya peninsula over the Tempisque River, whose catchment area is infested with mosquitoes and crocodiles.

  We've been working on helping the Costa Rican government to realize this dream over the past six years. The construction of the US$27 million project, which is carried out by Taiwan's Retired Servicemen Engineering Agency, started in July 2000 and is expected to be completed by October this year.

  Once completed, it will reduce the travel time from San Jose -- the capital to Nicoya from two hours to 90 minutes by car.

  You see, what we build is not only a bridge but also trust and friendship. We hope the construction of the San Carlos highway, which is currently in the planning process, will do just the same.

  TT: It was quite a career twist to go from educator to diplomat. How have you adjusted to this very different stage of your life?

  Mao: I was never involved in any kind of diplomacy in my entire life before I took up the job. Frankly speaking, I'm still not used to the diplomatic culture.

  Nevertheless, I've surprised myself and overcome many difficulties over the years, including psychological ones, and made some accomplishments. If there is any achievement I take pride in, I'm particularly proud of the cooperation project of the Taiwan Friendship Bridge.

  TT: Any plans for the future?

  Mao: I've been thinking about retirement for the past two years. As I told you a while ago, I'm not used to the diplomatic culture and dislike bureaucratic atmosphere. I think I'd like to be involved in something that I can be free to do whatever I want to do and is conducive to the country, such as education.
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