In an address to ROC diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei Aug. 4, President Ma Ying-jeou explained the core concepts and rationale behind his “flexible diplomacy” policy.
According to Ma, his “flexible diplomacy” initiative is based around Taipei and Beijing pursuing rapprochement and a truce in the international arena, committing to not wasting national resources to win over diplomatic allies from each other, and refraining from conducting activities that would hurt either side’s interests.
“Flexible diplomacy does not require Taiwan to be at loggerheads with the mainland in each and every international encounter,” Ma said. “There simply is no need to perpetuate a vicious cycle. The cornerstone of this initiative is to achieve a certain degree of mutual trust across the strait on improving ties, so as to set aside controversies and create a win-win situation.”
The president’s remarks, which were made a week before departing on a visit to Taiwan’s Latin American allies, were the first, in-depth open explanation of his administration’s foreign policy initiative--which has also been referred to by the local media as “modus vivendi diplomacy.” Since Ma’s inauguration May 20, cross-strait relations have gradually improved, with Taiwan easing restrictions on commercial exchanges, allowing weekend direct cross-strait charter flights and opening up to more mainland Chinese tourists.
The president stated that his “flexible diplomacy” approach is in line with former ROC leader Lee Teng-hui’s “pragmatic diplomacy.” Ma noted that diplomacy should not be a zero-sum game; rather, it should be based on pragmatism. He explained that over the past eight years, Taiwan’s foreign policy has centered on confrontation and upping financial inducements to forge diplomatic ties, which cost the island six allies.
Ma said that given Taiwan’s current level of development and per capita income, “it naturally behooves us to provide foreign assistance to less developed countries,” and “adequate foreign aid programs will help improve the ROC’s image among non-allies.”
By pursuing such a policy, Ma noted that Taiwan will demonstrate to important partners such as the United States, Japan and the European Union that it is a “responsible stakeholder” or “peacemaker” as it strives to improve cross-strait ties. The ROC’s future foreign aid programs will also be guided chiefly by humanitarian needs rather than diplomatic gains, he added.
“The most important asset of our foreign policy is our democracy, our way of life, our willingness to maintain cross-strait stability, and our determination to fulfill our obligations to the international community in accordance with the universalistic values of the family of nations,” Ma concluded.
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