The DPP's Myopic Foreign Policy

The DPP's Myopic Foreign Policy
Is Killing the Taiwan Independence Movement's Own Diplomatic Space
China Times editorial
translated by Bevin Chu
August 7, 2007

For years the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been practicing what might be termed "scorched earth diplomacy." The problem for the pro independence DPP is that the fires it has set, far from creating any "international breathing space for Taiwan," have merely boxed the Republic of China (ROC) government into a corner.

The ruling DPP's diplomatic maneuvers have several major characteristics. Characteristic One is these maneuvers help drum up personal support for the president. As a result President Chen Shui-bian repeatedly embarks on such state visits, basking in the red carpet treatment and the media exposure. He takes full advantage of his transits through the US to tout his personal achievements. As usual, whenever higher ups say "Jump!" lower downs ask "How high?" Other high ranking officials also take full advantage of foreign junkets. Characteristic Two is these maneuvers help the ruling DPP in domestic elections. Whenever an election is closely contested, the ruling DPP invariably engages in brinksmanship, pandering to Taiwan independence fundamentalists in both words and deeds. This ploy has become a political cure-all for consolidating the "ben tu" (nativist) vote. Because the ruling DPP has no political achievements to speak of, and the economy is in recession; their election prospects have become increasingly grim, and their diplomatic strategy has become increasingly provocative.

As a result, Chen Shui-bian, who won in 2000, largely on the basis of his "Five Noes Policy," and in whom the US and the international community placed their trust, began engaging in reckless brinksmanship. One after another, he played his "One Country, Each Side" card, his "Defensive Referendum [Plebiscite]" card, his "New Constitution" card, his "Terminate Reunification" card, his "Rectification of Names and Authoring of a New Constitution" card, and even his "Join the UN under the Name of Taiwan" card. Long term mutual confidence and mutual tolerance between Taipei and Washington have already been seriously undermined by this succession of "mishaps." The ruling DPP puts its partisan self-interest above the national interest. It cares nothing about US concerns. Instead it gambles that the US, constrained by regional strategic considerations, has no choice but to back Taiwan. As a result the US government no longer believes the Chen regime will conduct itself in a responsible manner vis a vis foreign policy affecting the destiny of the ROC and the Asian Pacific region.

Characteristic Three is that the ruling DPP has turned "Taiwan's participation in international organizations" into an ideology. For years, the focus of the ruling DPP was "Taiwan's participation in the United Nations and the World Health Organization." Every year the ruling DPP sponsors a massive propaganda campaign to drum up support for UN participation. But it gradually transfers its demands for the participation of "Taiwan's people" in international affairs, to demands to redefine Taiwan's political status, provoking a Chinese Communist Party backlash and increasing international tensions. The US considers demands by Chen Shui-bian to join the United Nations in the name of "Taiwan" to be violations of the Oath of Office Chen took when he swore not to change the name of the country.

Seen in perspective, these all are wasted efforts. Not only have they not helped "Taiwan" out of a difficult situation, they have caused significant damage. First, diplomatic relations require a long term investment of resources. That alone makes state visits difficult. But hosts and guests can easily swap roles. The Chen regime loves to treat state visits as political theater, plundering resources that might have been invested in substantive relations. It squanders them on myopic, short term political theater, leaving the work of diplomatic foundation building undone. As a result, despite Chen Shui-bian's frequent trips to Central and South America, decades of diplomatic relations with nations such as Costa Rica have flown right out the window.

Next, the international community is nothing if not pragmatic. Given Chinese Communist Party pressure, any attempts by the ruling DPP to demand "Taiwan's rights, interests, dignity, and breathing space," depend on other forces, acting as a counterbalance. But for the past few years, the ruling DPP has been asleep at the wheel. The economy is in recession. The Chinese Communist Party holds all the cards. The ruling DPP panders to Deep Green demands for a Close Door Policy. It is unwilling to face the fact of the mainland's rise. When we demand participation in international activities, what can we use to convince the nations of the world to turn their backs on Beijing and side with Taipei?

Worst of all, a long string of irresponsible diplomatic gambits that gave no thought to the consequences, may have helped the DPP win local elections. But it has steadily diminished Taipei's diplomatic breathing space, and has undermined the sovereignty and status of the Republic of China.

The ROC's international plight is that it requires ambiguity to increase its maneuvering room. It needs to infiltrate the citadel when the Chinese Communist Party isn't looking, thereby affirming its own international standing. The Chen regime's approach is just the opposite. Even before it has set foot outside the door, it raises a huge ruckus. It makes a major political issue of what it is about to do, reminding the Chinese Communist Party to take preemptive measures. Washington worries the situation will spin out of control. It does not trust Taipei's brinksmanship, which has become increasingly reckless. The ruling DPP is now in the comical situation of locking the door from the inside, even as Beijing locks the door from the outside. All the ruling DPP wants to do is boast about its "victories" to Deep Green mobs. Besides engaging in self deception, it offers no countermeasures whatsoever. Besides, the international community already feels that Taiwan's repeated provocations are ruling regime election ploys. They are intended purely to rally domestic political support. They have endangered public safety and Asian Pacific regional stability. This being the case, no one should tolerate this kind of reckless behavior. It could bring disaster to the entire world. Therefore they must join hands to keep a lid on it.

This scenario allows the international community and the Chinese Communist Party to stand together. As a result, both the European Union and the US are uniformly opposed to the "Join the UN under the Name of Taiwan Plebiscite." Their declarations amount to precedents with tremendous binding force, creating even more barriers to Taiwan's entry into the UN. When United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon returns Chen Shui-bian's petition, unread; when he refers to the United Nations draft resolution that acknowledges the Chinese Communist Party's sovereignty over Taiwan, the major nations express no objection. This increases international community acceptance of the Chinese Communist Party's position. ROC sovereignty is setback even further than before Chen Shui-bian sent his petition.

If it weren't for such undue haste, which has subjected the ROC's sovereignty to attacks, the ROC would not have suffered such injuries. The ruling DPP has relentlessly exploited diplomacy as a tool for self-preservation. Chen Shui-bian's brinksmanship provokes antipathy and anxiety within the international community, leading to an inevitable backlash. The result is harm to the ROC's dignity, rights, and interests. Pressure from Beijing is unquestionably one reason for the ROC's diplomatic plight, but it is hardly the only reason.

中時電子報
中國時報 　2007.08.07
短線的外交操作正在扼殺台灣的外交空間
中時社論

說台灣這些年搞「烽火外交」，倒也是事實，不過是在自家周圍放火，沒燒出國際空間，反而把自己愈來愈逼進了牆角。

執政當局的外交操作向來都有幾大重點，一是替元首個人造勢。於是陳水扁總統頻頻出訪，享受風光禮遇和媒體曝光，藉著過境美國的待遇為自己的成就大肆吹噓；上行下效，其他高層首長也積極出國。二是替國內選舉助陣。民進黨政府每到選情吃緊時，向台獨邊緣踩紅線的激烈言行，就成了凝聚本土票源的萬靈丹。而且因為政績乏善可陳，經濟有氣無力，民進黨的選情愈來愈困難，外交策略只好愈來愈「重鹹」。

於是乎，二千年曾靠著「四不一沒有」博得美國與國際社會信任的陳水扁，開始在邊線跳探戈。先後大玩「一邊一國」、「防禦性公投」、「新憲」、「終統」、「正名制憲」乃至如今的以台灣名義入聯及入聯公投。台美長期培養出來的互信互諒，已經因為這一連串的「意外」而嚴重侵蝕崩潰。民進黨政府將自我利益置於國家利益之上，不在乎盟友美國的立場，卻豪賭於美國基於區域利益非挺台灣不可，也讓美國政府不再相信扁政府在考量及執行外交政策時，會對台灣命運及亞太局勢採取負責任的態度。

第三重點則是把台灣參與國際組織意識形態化。這些年來，政府把國際參與聚焦於聯合國及世衛組織，每年都進行大量的文宣和動員造勢。但訴求重點從爭取台灣人民參與國際事務的權利，逐漸轉為凸顯台灣國家定位，並因此引發中共反彈及國際社會的疑慮。像這次陳水扁推動以「台灣」名義加入聯合國，便被美方認為違反了就職時「不更改國號」的承諾。

綜觀起來，這些都是虛功，對台灣的外交處境不但沒幫助，還造成了不少重大傷害：首先，外交關係需要投入資源長期耕耘，才能實現元首出訪這種高難度的成果。但主客易位，扁政府熱中出訪作秀，把原本可以投入實質關係的資源給掠奪走，短視近利的操作手法，導致外交基礎工作荒廢。結果陳水扁走中南美洲像在「行灶腳」，數十年的邦交國哥斯大黎加還是飛了。

其次，國際社會是很現實的，在中共打壓之下，台灣要爭取權益尊嚴與活動空間，必須靠其他力量來平衡政治劣勢。可是這些年來，台灣不勵精不圖治，經濟陷入低迷，口袋裡的籌碼比不過經濟起飛的中共，又迎合深綠路線採取鎖國政策，不肯正視大陸的崛起浪潮。當我們要求國際參與時，究竟能拿什麼說服世界各國捨中就台？

更糟糕的是，台灣一連串不顧後果也不負責任的外交操作，儘管完成了助選使命，卻不斷削減台灣的外交操作空間，對台灣的主權地位反而有害無益。

以台灣的國際處境，對外發展關係時應該盡量擴大模糊與迴旋空間，趁著中共沒注意時悄悄攻城掠地，讓自己的國際地位愈站愈穩。結果，扁政府的操作完全相反，腳一步都還沒邁出去，就先敲鑼打鼓大作政治文章，提醒了中共趕快封殺。美國擔心局勢失控，又不信任台灣當局，紅線於是愈畫愈近。如今台灣連門都出不了，卻還關起門來，只顧著向深綠群眾吹噓戰績。除了自欺欺人，拿不出什麼對策來。此外，國際社會已經覺得，台灣一再採取激進挑釁的動作，是執政當局為了內政考量的造勢策略，以致置人民安危於險境，更無視於亞太安定。既然如此，大家就不應縱容這種會為全球帶來災難的冒進行為，必須聯手壓制住台灣這個變數。

情勢讓國際社會選擇與中共站在一起，因此，台灣的入聯公投，連歐盟、美國也齊聲反對，而這樣的表態會對之後的政府形成具有約束力的慣例，也為台灣入聯設下了更多障礙。當聯合國秘書長潘基文退回陳水扁信函，指稱聯合國決議案已認定中共擁有台灣主權時，大國對此並無異議。這使得中共的主張獲得國際社會進一步接受，台灣主權地位因此再遭重挫，比陳水扁致函前還倒退了許多。

如果不是如此躁進，拿台灣的主權國家地位去給人家打，台灣也不會遭到這樣的傷害。執政黨不斷把外交當自保工具，國際社會在反感及疑慮下對陳水扁的操作加以反制，結果是台灣尊嚴與權益連帶無辜受害。台灣如今的外交困境，說實話，絕對有北京打壓與圍堵的因素，但不能說自己全無責任。