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Since his inauguration as president of Taiwan this May, Ma Ying-jeou has pursued a three-pronged strategy. First, he has attempted to improve relations with Beijing. Second, he has tried to secure a more meaningful international participation for Taiwan. Third, he has continued to seek arms from the United States to
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deter aggression and coercion from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Ma and his new government hope that setting aside discussions of sovereignty will coax the PRC into allowing Taiwan to have a greater international presence. Whether substantial concessions from Beijing can be achieved remains to be seen.
Will Taiwan be permitted to participate in United Nations (UN) specialized agencies, particularly the World Health Organization? Will Taiwan be able to deepen its economic integration with other nations in the Asia-Pacific region through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation? Will Taipei be able to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to achieve the objective of ASEAN+3+1? Will Taiwan be able to become more engaged in democracy promotion around the world? Panelists at this event will discuss these and other questions. AEI’s John R. Bolton, former U.S. permanent representative to the UN, will deliver the keynote address.
| 10:45 a.m. | Registration | |
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| 11:00 | Panelists: | Carolyn Bartholomew, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission |
| | | Louisa Greve, National Endowment for Democracy |
| | | Randall Schriver, Armitage International |
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| | Moderator: | Dan Blumenthal, AEI |
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| 12:00 p.m. | Luncheon | |
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| | Keynote Speaker: | John R. Bolton, AEI |
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| 1:00 | Adjournment | |
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Little Hope for Taiwan to Broaden Its International Space
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008--Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, is attempting to coax the People's Republic of China into allowing Taiwan greater international freedom of action. At an AEI event on September 23, former permanent representative to the United Nations and current AEI senior fellow John R. Bolton and a panel of experts echoed the call for increasing Taiwan's prospects for greater international participation.
Ma's recent failure to secure Taiwan's participation in sixteen of the United Nations' specialized agencies indicates that his overtures to China have been unsuccessful. Bolton argued that in order to "have an obvious, profound impact on Taiwan's space in the world," Taiwan should focus its diplomatic efforts on securing "unambiguous support from the United States." He believes it to be "in the interest of the United States to extend full diplomatic recognition to Taiwan."
In addition to "continuing to pressure China," Randall Schriver of Armitage International argued that the United States should "build an international coalition . . . to start to reframe the debate for China," in order to show China that "it is pragmatic and in their interests to start to help Taiwan increase its international space." While advocating greater U.S. support for Taiwan, Bolton and Schriver both recognized that such support is unlikely in the near term.
Louisa Greve of the National Endowment for Democracy and Carolyn Bartholomew of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission suggested that Taiwan pursue a gradual approach to garnering international support. "Democracy is [Taiwan's] greatest strategic asset," Greve said; without democracy, Taiwan would enjoy far less U.S. friendship and international goodwill. If Taiwan's government enhances its efforts to promote democracy and revamps its foreign aid programs, "international respect will come as a byproduct."
Efforts to increase Taiwan's participation in the international community can also be achieved at the nongovernmental level. "Taiwan has an enormous amount of knowledge, of technical expertise to contribute to the international community," Bartholomew pointed out. A public relations campaign, she said, could compel the international community to question the artificial constraints placed on Taiwan by China and to increase pressure on international governments to alter their policies toward Taipei. In the meantime, the lack of unambiguous American support contributes to the continuing ambiguity of Taiwan's international position.
--MICHAEL MAZZA
For video, audio, and more information about this event, visit www.aei.org/event1803/.
AEI has sponsored extensive research on Taiwan. Some of the highlights include:
- Strengthening Freedom in Asia: A Twenty-First-Century Agenda for the U.S.-Taiwan Partnership, a report from AEI and Armitage International's Taiwan Policy Working Group, led by by Dan Blumenthal and Randall Schriver. The report was presented at an AEI event.
- A speech by Ma Ying-jeou at AEI about the future of Taiwan when he was mayor of Taipei in 2006.
- A conference on Taiwan's attempts to join United Nations, including an address by then-president Chen Shui-bian.
For media inquiries, contact Veronique Rodman at vrodman@aei.org or 202.862.4870.
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