Taiwan's foreign policy evolved out of civil war, enormous diplomatic obstacles and pressure from China. Such challenging circumstances required the country to be judicious and discreet in its foreign relations. The result was a practical style of diplomacy that allowed Taiwan to stay engaged with the world.
In his new book "Foreign Policy Making in Taiwan," American political science professor and longtime observer of Taiwan affairs Dennis Hickey has provided a very useful and well-written contribution to both Taiwan studies and comparative foreign-policy analysis. As he states in his introduction, he undertook this study "to come to grips with the various internal and external forces" that have shaped and influenced Taiwan's foreign policy since 1949 and continue to do so.
Unlike earlier books that looked at Taiwan's external relations principally in terms of the island's links with the United States and cross-strait relations with the Communist government in China, Hickey examines both the domestic and international influences on Taiwan's foreign policy-making process. He argues that, while "nonstate actors in Taiwan and elsewhere" may undertake foreign activities, "Taiwan is indeed a state" that conducts foreign relations based upon three core concepts in international relations: sovereignty, the state and the nation.
In Chapter 2, his historical overview of Taiwan since 1949, Hickey divides the country's foreign policy-making into three phases. The first phase is the "Golden Era" from 1950 to 1971, when Taiwan had the primary diplomatic goal of retaining its United Nations membership and the so-called China Seat on the U.N. Security Council. During this phase, the Kuomintang leadership under Chiang Kai-shek made foreign-policy decisions and the KMT-appointed foreign-affairs bureaucracy implemented them.
In the following period of "Diplomatic Isolation" from 1971 to 1988, the ROC was forced to withdraw from the United Nations rather than being voted out; U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China; and the United States and most of the international community shifted their diplomatic recognition from the ROC to the People's Republic of China.
Chiang Ching-kuo became ROC president in 1978, following Yen Chia-kan, who held the position since Chiang Kai-shek passed away in April 1975. During Chiang Ching-kuo's years in office, Taiwan pursued a more "flexible approach" to foreign affairs. The emphasis on formal diplomatic ties was replaced by more focus on retaining strong unofficial relations to maintain the island's "international living space," with "lost embassies" being replaced by semi-official trade offices or cultural institutions with diplomatic and consular powers.
The third and ongoing phase following Chiang Ching-kuo's own death in January 1988 is described as a period of "Pragmatic Diplomacy" under President Lee Teng-hui and his successor Chen Shui-bian. During this period, increasing emphasis has been placed on developing unofficial relations with foreign governments and building up "people-to-people diplomacy" through nonstate linkages, such as interparliamentary and party-to-party relations, as well as overseas activities by non-governmental organizations.
Then the author assesses the effect of the international system on Taiwan as a small state buffeted by two great powers--the United States and China--as well as by international events and transitions not in its national control. He goes on in Chapter 4 to survey the various major government institutions that contribute to foreign-policy decision-making. These include the president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Legislative Yuan. The author considers societal influences, although he concludes that their impact is often exaggerated. This includes a variety of major social and political elements, such as interest groups, think tanks and the media.
Hickey's most interesting assessment is where he provides an analytical comparison of four ROC presidents' personalities and the consequences these had on foreign policy. To make this comparison, he designates each leader as either a "crusader," who tends to make decisions based on a preconceived view of events, or as a "pragmatist," who considers alternative perspectives and tries to remain flexible in the face of changing circumstances. Even so, he felt that each president could be seen as a "predominant leader," due to their central role in decision-making and dealing with Taiwan's foreign-policy problems.
On Chiang Kai-shek after his retreat to the island, Hickey notes that he became a crusader for a military return to China sometime in the future. As ROC president and KMT head, Chiang "rigidly adhered to his principles in the face of adversity and repeated reversals." He continually called for a "one-China" policy for China that included Taiwan, though he was prepared to adopt some flexibility in his bilateral dealings with the United States. This was especially true following the start of the Korean War, as China subsequently entered into that conflict, and during the 1950s and 60s.
In contrast, Hickey suggests that Chiang Ching-kuo sought greater Taiwanization and democratization on the island to build political legitimacy internationally for its governing regime as well as abandonment of openly hostile policies toward China.
Nevertheless, Hickey sees Lee as even more practical than Chiang Kai-shek or Chiang Ching-kuo to the extent that Lee pursued a "pragmatic diplomacy" that included acceptance of a "dual recognition" policy--to try to circumvent China's "one-China" recognition requirement--and campaigning to regain membership in the United Nations. The author felt that Lee's greatest foreign-policy successes were in his efforts to strengthen Taiwan's unofficial relations with governments abroad and to expand its "international living space."
Like his predecessor Chiang Ching-kuo, Lee acquired "a taste for international intrigue and covert operations" in pursuit of "pragmatic diplomacy." Hickey also sees current President Chen Shui-bian--the first opposition-party candidate elected to office--as realistic in his foreign-policy approach because of his reinforcing of "informal relations" with foreign governments and strong campaigning for Taiwan's membership in various international forums.
Hickey has drawn extensively on Taiwan-affairs literature, including his own earlier writings as well as numerous interviews that he conducted with Taiwanese leaders over the past 15 years, such as President Lee, other senior ROC officials and high-level scholars in Taiwan and China.
One criticism is that the analytical text, which only has 123 pages, makes up about two-thirds of the overall short book. The remaining one-third is taken up with two appendixes on the ROC Constitution, useful text notes and a detailed bibliography, while leaving only a scant five pages for the book index.
In his introduction and conclusion, Hickey points out that Taiwan, like Korea, could be described as "a shrimp between whales." For centuries, "the island's fate has been shaped largely by external pressures and outside influences" of foreign powers.
Nevertheless, Taiwan's presidents worked arduously to ensure the island's international space through various creative external-relations efforts. Taiwan has been able to gain membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the World Trade Organization, though as an "economic entity" under the name of "Chinese Taipei" and "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" respectively. At the same time, the PRC has strongly opposed every step that Taiwan has taken to improve its state-to-state foreign relations and to increase its international presence.
Even so, Taiwan continues to campaign strongly for membership--or at least observer status--in intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization. The country also continues to establish free trade agreements with its major trading partners. In addition, Taiwan encourages greater "people-to-people diplomacy," particularly nonstate external activities on the part of Taiwanese civil society, such as the extensive disaster assistance provided by the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist non-governmental organization.
Copyright 2007 by Robert Henderson
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