Can Daniel Ortega Really Pull Our Strings?

Can Daniel Ortega Really Pull Our Strings?
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 6, 2009

President Ma's "Journey of Enduring Friendships" has run into one problem after another. First, a coup in Honduras forced him to cancel that leg of his trip. Next, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega failed to appear at either the airport or the state banquet. His guests wondered whether they had been deliberately left out in the cold. These episodes suggest that such elaborate visits by our head of state, replete with vast entourages, no longer serve any purpose, and ought to be changed.

First Ortega said he could not be at the airport to greet President Ma because he had to preside over the funeral of the mayor of their capital city. Then he said he could not come to the state dinner because he had to deal with the coup in Honduras. These were extreme breaches of diplomatic protocol. After all, this was a scheduled state visit. Failure to make an appearance will inevitably make people wonder whether one's absence was intentional. One month ago President Ma planned to meet with Daniel Ortega in El Salvador. But Ortega postponed the meeting three times, leading to its eventual cancellation altogether. View the two events in conjunction and Daniel Ortega's posturing is unmistakable.

Daniel Ortega postponed his meeting three times. He failed to show up two times. He then personally drove Ma Ying-jeou on a trip to the countryside. He apologized to Ma at his hotel. As we can see, Ortega has run hot and cold. His behavior was deliberate posturing. Assuming our fellow citizens are correct in suspecting Ortega of ulterior motives, then our government must not cave in. If Ortega's ploy were to succeed, our other allies would follow suit. How then could President Ma uphold his pledge to maintain "honest, legitimate, and forthright" diplomatic relations?

So-called "Head of State Diplomacy" is a remnant of the Chen Shui-bian era's "diplomatic war" strategy. During his administration Chen personally led ten large scale state visits, for the express purpose of setting brushfires on every one of our diplomatic fronts. These foreign visits were purely for domestic political consumption, to stroke his vanity by depicting himself as a national hero. But his highly politicized "Head of State Diplomacy" has turned out to be more costly than it was worth. Chen Shui-bian took domestic issues and pushed them onto the international stage. His attempts to turn transits through the US into political victories went awry. His attempts to buy officials in allied nations created political chaos in those nations. Such "Head of State Diplomacy" may glitter on the outside, but is rotten on the inside. It is nothing more than bribery on our part, and corruption on our allies' part. In the light of today's changed circumstances, it should be thoroughly reviewed.

The Republic of China's circumstances are special. One cannot dismiss state visits as entirely meaningless. But the public must be aware that the real work of diplomacy is not the product of such rituals and protocols. If every state visit is accompanied by loud fanfare, large entourages, and hordes of reporters, attention will be focused on a range of superficial issues. The cart will end up ahead of the horse. Others will see Taipei using money to suborn defections. They will naturally resort to bluffing to get what they want. Daniel Ortega saw a perfect opportunity to put on a show for Taiwan's media. That is why he ran hot and cold. He was using any and all means possible to pull his visitor's strings.

Too many state visits tend to mislead diplomatic personnel. They encourage them to pay attention only to appearances, and to overlook the real work of diplomacy. Take President Ma's visit to Nicaragua for example. Daniel Ortega being at the airport was not actually necessary. But our ambassador in Nicaragua may have wanted to make up for Daniel Ortega's previous refusal to meet with Ma Ying-jeou. He may have twisted Ortega's arm about meeting Ma at the airport. As a result the situation got out of control yet again. A president must deal with countless matters each day. If an allied nation's head of state were to visit Taiwan, our government would never arrange for the president to personally accompany him or her ten or more hours a day. Why then must we arrange so many meetings with foreign heads of state each day? Are they merely to prove how chummy we are with them? As a result the media devoted its attention to counting who stood up whom, and how many times.

President Ma's trip shows no traces of Beijing's interference. Rather, our own allies ran hot and cold, demonstrating little constancy for us in their hearts. The recklessness of our own diplomats was even more alarming. It now appears "Head of State Diplomacy" has run its course. If we cannot maintain even the appearances, then President Ma Ying-jeou, as the new president, should finish his rounds, then call an end to such theatrics, replacing them with the hard work of genuine diplomacy. At least we will no longer have to make so many outlays. At least we will not be providing others with so many pretexts to make demands upon us.

Daniel Ortega was rude. Our fellow citizens should arrive at a consensus regarding our nation's response to our diplomatic situation. Daniel Ortega attempted to manipulate Republic of China citizens into pressuring President Ma and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cave in to his demands. But if our fellow citizens refuse to buy into such tricks, then they will not work. In order to change our diplomatic situation, in order to ensure that we are no longer held hostage, we must see past appearances, and not allow people with agendas to manipulate us.

奧蒂嘉難道能扯動全體台灣人民的神經？
【聯合報╱社論】
2009.07.06 05:56 am

馬總統此次「久誼之旅」枝節橫生。先是因宏都拉斯政變而緊急取消該國行程，隨後又遇上尼國總統奧蒂嘉在接機、國宴場合兩度臨時缺席，予人遭刻意冷落之感。這些插曲顯示這種元首率團出訪的模式已逐漸失去滋味，有改弦易轍之必要。

奧蒂嘉先以主持首都市長葬禮為由未去接機，又以處理宏國問題為由缺席國宴，皆極失東道之禮。畢竟，這些都是早已排定的行程，臨時爽約，難免讓人懷疑他是出於故意。回顧月前馬總統出訪，原本要在薩爾瓦多會見奧蒂嘉，卻遭對方三次更改時間而取消；兩相對照，奧蒂嘉賣弄身段確實有跡可循。

奧蒂嘉從「三次改期」到「二度放鴿子」，其間卻親自開車陪馬英九參訪鄉間，狀至熱絡，後又到飯店向馬致歉；可見，所有冷熱起伏，皆在故作姿態。倘若國人對於奧蒂嘉別有用心的猜測無誤，恐怕我方更不能就範；因為，如果奧蒂嘉此計得售，則其他邦交國亦必將爭相倣效。如此，馬總統所謂「正派、正當、正統」的外交原則將何以維繫？

元首外交是陳水扁時代「烽火外交」戰略下的產物。他任內十度親自率團大規模出訪，為的是在各個外交陣線搧風點火，出口轉內銷，並滿足其個人英雄主義的虛榮。但經過高度政治化的操作，元首外交其實已呈本末倒置，包括：陳水扁迭將內爭議題帶至國外消費、志在「過境」美國的目的與手段失調，乃至動用大量金錢收買邦交國官員，反助長友邦政治亂象。這樣的元首外交，看起來華麗奪目，卻幾乎是用我方的賄賂與對方的貪腐所建構而成。這些，如今都該因應新形勢通盤檢討了。

以台灣的特殊處境，元首出訪當然不能說沒有意義；但民眾也應了解：真正的外交工作，絕對不是寄託在這類行禮如儀的節目上推動。如果每次出訪都敲鑼打鼓，攜帶大批成員和媒體隨行，結果卻只能聚焦在各種浮面的事物上，很容易就會走上捨本逐末的歧路。而從對手的立場看，既然台灣當局喜歡用金錢賄買場面，自然懂得用虛浮的手法投其所好；奧蒂嘉不也正因為看準了在成群台灣媒體面前有絕佳的表演機會，他才可以如此反反覆覆，用盡忽冷忽熱的手法來扯動來客的神經。

過於頻繁的元首出訪，也容易誤導外交人員的認知，養成他們重視送往迎來的表面功夫，反忽略了真正的外交工作。以這次馬總統造訪尼加拉瓜為例，奧蒂嘉要不要接機，其實並無絕對必要；但我駐瓜使節可能為了彌補前次奧蒂嘉拒見馬英九之失，強要他接機表態，結果反而再度失控。試想，以總統之日理萬機，如果友邦元首來台訪問，我方也絕不可能安排總統作十幾小時的親自接待；那麼，為何馬總統出訪，一天要安排那麼多回合的元首晤面來表示親善？結果，卻只落得媒體在那裡細數誰放了誰幾次鴿子。

馬總統此行，未見中共干擾作梗的痕跡，倒是友邦的多事、冷熱無常讓我們點滴在心頭，外交人員的輕率更讓人捏把冷汗。如今看來，元首外交已經被操練到顯露疲態，如果連儀式性演出都無法把握全部細節，那麼在馬英九以新總統之姿走訪一圈之後，這類大陣仗的出訪似應適可而止，改以更深層而實質的外交耕耘；至少不必太過鋪陳，而授對方要索的口實。

看奧蒂嘉的失禮，國人對因應國家外交處境，更應凝聚共識。奧蒂嘉是想用無禮的手段來扯動台灣人民的情緒，以迫使馬總統及外交部就範；但若國人皆能不吃這一套，想要玩弄戲法者即不易得逞。要改變受人挾持的外交處境，國人先要看破虛華的表相，勿讓有心者所乘。