What are the challenges and opportunities for Taiwanese public diplomacy?
Paul Rockower outlines a number of suitable opportunities for Taiwan to seize as it continues to address the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China next door. He suggests that Taiwan embrace and advertise its cultural offerings—by assembling a traveling night market—as well as its strategic geopolitical location, democratic values, and economic strength.
With its robust economy and classification as a middle power, Taiwan’s political capital and opportunities rest largely on its promotion of a democratic model, allocation of foreign aid, foreign direct investment, and engagement in polylateral and track II methods of diplomacy as well as on its strategic location vis-à-vis U.S. interests in safeguarding its Pacific presence.
Opportunities for elevating Taiwanese soft power and influence abound: not only could Taiwan construct interactive outposts, online Taiwan Academies and promote gastrodiplomacy programs to represent its interests, heritage, and cultural importance as the true heir of Chinese culture—it could increase its soft power and influence through the expanding on the niches available. Taiwan would reap rewards for pivoting its terms of diplomatic engagement to focus on two key areas, international communication technologies (ICT) and urban housing and development design. Its expertise in these two indispensable topics would likely be universally appreciated.
Since 2007, Taiwan’s sphere of legitimate influence has steadily shrunk, however, despite the government’s efforts at checkbook diplomacy and aid engagement. For example, the government of Costa Rica, which recognized Taiwan as sovereign for over several decades, suddenly switched its allegiance to the PRC overnight—perhaps because it was attracted to Beijing’s offer to build the Costa Rican national stadium in San Jose. Today less than 25 countries officially recognize Taiwan.
Taiwan will continue to face the threat of an ever-expanding China whose enormous assets (i.e. ICT company Huawei Technologies) and mammoth influence will become increasingly difficult to compete with, given its size and scope. And although Taiwan’s aid program managed to broker diplomatic ties throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the same judgment cannot be made today. As R. Ellis highlights, global perception and reception of China is changing for a number of reasons. A growing number of developing countries especially are attracted to China because they bear “hopes for future access to Chinese markets and investment,” interest in China’s role as a possible “counterweight to the United States and Western institutions, and admire its successful economic development model.
As fewer and fewer countries recognize Taiwan and as it is forced to manufacture a “Chinese culture with Taiwanese characteristics” for public consumption, it is evident that Taiwan’s weight is not what it once was. Only time and strategy will tell whether Taiwan will be able to meet the difficulties posed by its neighbor.
by Marc Hedman
ReplyDeleteI think you adroitly outline Taiwan's current advantages and challenges. Taiwan has been forced to gradually sidestep traditional diplomacy in favor of creative alternatives. Luckily it is a success story in both economic and political terms and this comprises a large portion of its soft power.
I would, however, suggest alternatives to future public diplomacy focus areas. While Taiwan does have a singular culture derived from a confluence of varying sources, it is up against China, which has also chosen 'culture' as the battle cry of its public diplomacy campaigns. I think it will be quite difficult for the Taiwanese to outperform the Chinese in the proliferation of Chinese culture, despite trying to carve out a Taiwanese identity to promote to the world. Investing in cultural and gastro-diplomacy is wise, but perhaps not the right focus for Taiwan when at distinct disadvantages to China.
I believe your point about ICT's and urban housing and development design is an excellent way for Taiwan to turn. I also believe it is a derivative of something much more salable.
Taiwan's story is one that would be eminently marketable to both the West and developing countries. In a relatively short amount of time it has transformed itself from an authoritarian, relatively poor state under pressure from China, to a democratic, successful state with a market economy. This is the path that Western countries are hoping current authoritarian states will take and this fact has not been properly marketed to the West. This could easily garner support from many Western states and NGO's that promote the transformation of democracy around the world - especially when presented in juxtaposition to the narrative of the PRC.
More importantly though, Taiwan and Taiwanese companies have valuable experience in housing, agriculture, ICT's and electronics that they can use to market themselves to developing countries. This development expertise can be the basis of a service sector that sets up businesses in developing economies while simultaneously promoting democratic reforms. Taiwan is living proof that a country does not need to utilize technocratic methods to develop a strong economy (or more correctly, one can develop a successful economy using these methods and work toward democratic reform at the same time).
Their economic story does seem similar to China's, but I believe Taiwan has a major advantage over China. Taiwan is a small country. The demography of Taiwan is much more similar to other developing countries than China, which is in a demographic category all by itself.
In short, I believe successfully marketing their economic and political narrative should be Taiwan's public diplomacy focus.
Following Marc's astute observations, I think you rightly note the difficulties facing Taiwan's pressing PD demands. Like Marc said, there is probably something to the notion that Taiwan can promote its own narrative as more compelling and indeed, achievable as a development path than China's own "model." Rather than position itself as a curator of Chinese traditional culture, Taiwan can portray itself as a successful peer middle power to emulate. Arguing that it is the rightful bearer of Chinese culture is like answering a question that no one is asking. (e.g. - the US Shared Values campaign that showed how well Arabs were treated in the US).
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