Diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Grenada appears to be extremely rocky these days. Based on what Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said after returning from his trip to Beijing last week, the only reason that Mitchell has not officially announced a break in diplomatic ties with Taiwan is either because he is still working out the details of the financial aid package with China, or that he is still hoping that Taiwan will "outbid" Beijing. In any event, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is certainly taking the right stance in refusing to participate in "The Price is Right" game with Beijing and Grenada.
If Grenada chooses to sever ties with Taiwan and enter a relationship with Beijing, it wouldn't be the first time that Taiwan has suffered such a setback. Over the years, as China becomes increasingly affluent and thus more able to offer a "helping hand" to needy countries, it has become increasingly aggressive in persuading Taiwan's allies to switch diplomatic recognition to China. While many long-term and faithful friends have remained unmoved by the temptations, it cannot be denied that Beijing has enjoyed much success.
Normally there is no need to get too upset about Taiwan's allies' decisions to switch recognition, or take it personally. After all, in international politics, self-interest is the only thing that matters to most countries. That is the stark reality. Besides, friends and foes easily switch roles at the drop of a hat.
The case of Grenada is a little different. While it is within Grenada's rights to switch recognition, Mitchell has resorted to tactics resembling "open extortion." Usually, diplomatic negotiations between Taiwan and its allies take place in a low-profile manner and behind closed doors. However, Mitchell has not only made a high-profile trip to Beijing first, but made openly rude statements, accusing Taiwan of not taking diplomatic relations with the Caribbean nation seriously.
As for his reason for doing so, it's a toss-up between poor negotiation strategies on the one hand and deliberate efforts to demean Taiwan on the other. While common sense suggests that the correct answer is the former, in view of Beijing's past interference, one cannot rule out the possibility of the latter.
Experience tells us that Beijing can be highly retaliatory in competition for diplomatic allies. Each time Taiwan successfully enters a new diplomatic relationship, Beijing will immediately try to convince another ally of Taiwan's to switch recognition -- after paying them a hefty sum. The negotiations between Grenada and Beijing began right at the time when Taiwan and Beijing were still competing for Vanuatu's recognition.
In that race, Vanuatu had decided to revoke its recognition of Taiwan along with the removal of its prime minister Serge Vohor. In all likelihood, Grenada was Taiwan's intended punishment in the event that Vanuatu's diplomatic ties with Taiwan were not revoked.
Taiwan has long hoped that this diplomatic race would no longer be "zero-sum" in nature; it is entirely willing to settle for dual recognition of Taiwan and Beijing by allies. For example, before Vanuatu revoked its recognition of Taiwan, Taiwan did not demand that it sever recognition of Beijing. However, such a dual-recognition model is unacceptable to Beijing.
With Beijing rapidly and aggressively closing in on Taiwan on the diplomatic front, Taiwan must think of some solution to the problem. Otherwise, diplomatic isolation may be approaching.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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