vol. 64(4)/2019, pp. 232–249
DOI: 10.15804/athena.2019.64.14
www.athenaeum.umk.pl
ISSN 1505-2192
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AS TAIWANESE DIPLOMACY’S
ESSENTIAL TOOL
DYPLOMACJA PUBLICZNA JAKO ISTOTNE NARZĘDZIE
TAJWAŃSKIEJ DYPLOMACJI
Robert Rajczyk* , Grażyna Piechota**
— ABSTRACT —
— ABSTRAKT —
The working paper consists of the analyses of different forms of Taiwanese public diplomacy and
it also contains a future development scenario
as far as such an essential tool of foreign affairs
is concerned. The research project has been
conducted from many points of view. There are
institutional, strategic and operational dimensions of public diplomacy with the engagement of
government officials and agencies, NGOs, public
institutions and citizens as well. Having analysed
the whole activity concerning public diplomacy,
the main conclusion ought to be made, i.e., the
official development assistance and humanitarian
aid shall be provided as the most effective tool to
enhance Taiwanese international visibility.
Artykuł prezentuje wynik analiz dotyczących
różnych form dyplomacji publicznej prowadzonej przez Republikę Chińską na Tajwanie oraz
możliwości rozwoju tego procesu. W toku badań
wyróżniono trzy poziomy analityczne: strategiczny, instytucjonalny i operacyjny, obejmujące
aktorów publicznych i niepublicznych zaangażowanych w realizację dyplomacji publicznej.
Pomoc rozwojowa oraz pomoc humanitarna
stanowią w przypadku Tajwanu najistotniejszy
czynnik wzmacniania obecności Republiki
Chińskiej na arenie międzynarodowej.
Keywords: public diplomacy; Taiwan; Republic
of China; NGOs; IGOs
Słowa kluczowe: dyplomacja publiczna; Tajwan;
Republika Chińska; NGO; IGO
* University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Social Sciences.
** Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University, Faculty of Management and Social Communication.
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INTRODUCTION
The analysis of Taiwanese Public Diplomacy’s role in Taiwan’s foreign affairs and
its efficiency is the core idea of this working paper. That is why another purpose is
to determine the main problems and obstacles of Taiwanese Public Diplomacy in
order to discover the possibilities of resolving them and try to forecast the future
development in correlation with the international legal status of the Republic of
China (hereinafter known as the ROC).
The Republic of China is officially not recognized as an independent state
within the UN system. According to the authorities in Beijing, Taiwan is a rebellious province of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter known as the PRC),
whereas following the 1992 Consensus both countries have accepted the One
China idea. The latter means that there is only One China but the PRC and the
ROC identify themselves as China. It stands for the important issue in international relations. The common official recognition of the PRC and the ROC is
accepted neither by Beijing nor Taipei. The One China policy has been supported
by the political doctrine of “One Country Two Systems”. It might be described
as a concept of coexistence of socialism in mainland China and capitalism in
Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Nevertheless, the ROC has been existing as
a de facto state.
In 1945, the Republic of China has become the founding member of the
United Nations and one of the permanent members of the Security Council.
Because of the world’s geopolitical situation and confrontation between the
Soviet Union and its allies versus the Western democracies Taiwan withdrew
from the United Nations upon the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 dated
25 October 1971. Since then there have been several attempts to join the UN
supported by Taiwan’s allies. The Republic of China has diplomatic relations
with eighteen countries in the world, including the Holy See in Europe and: Kiribati, Marshal Islands, Nauru, Solomon, Tuvalu, Belize, Dominican, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Christopher
and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Burkina Faso, and Swaziland (Eswatini).
The relations with the other countries of the world are designed as cultural and
economic ones. Due to that, Taiwan is one of the main actors of international
affairs both in governmental and non-governmental international organizations1.
1
Taiwan has full membership in 37 intergovernmental organizations and their subsidiary bodies.
It also enjoys observer or other statuses in 21 IGOs and their subsidiary bodies.
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ROC is a member of several international organizations such as WTO or
Asia Development Bank. „Republic of China is a member of those organizations
usually as Chinese Taipei or Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. The Asian Development Bank is the only exception. Republic
of China is designated there as ‘Taipei, China’. It might be misinterpreted as
belonging to China whereas ‘Chinese Taipei’ is related to the Chinese culture”
(Rajczyk, 2016, p. 75). In other international organizations Taiwan has the status
of an observer, i.e., the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization.
The system of exchanging information – the global information system –
plays the key role in the modern world. The country’s position in the global
market or geopolitical relations depends not only on the economic potential
that is depicted by the competitiveness of the country but is also based on the
national brand and national image. Nowadays, during the era of mass communication and post-information revolution period described by the enormous
development of social and content media, an e-image is much more important
than at any time earlier. Different tools such as mass media or soft power are
triggering this phenomenon. The latter is done by many subjects of international
affairs, e.g., states, countries, international organizations, either governmental or
non-governmental, and citizens.
Public Diplomacy is “one of soft power’s key instruments, and this was recognized in diplomatic practice long before the contemporary debate on public
diplomacy” (Melissen, 2005, p. 4). According to Paul Sharp, Public Diplomacy is
“the process by which direct relations with people in a country are pursued to
advance the interests and extend the values of those being represented”. Hans Tuch
defined that as “a government’s process of communicating with foreign publics
in an attempt to bring about understanding for its nation’s ideas and ideals, its
institutions and culture, as well as its national goals and policies” (Tuch, 1990, p. 3).
In this working paper, Public Diplomacy shall be defined as a way of soft
power that gives the state an opportunity to influence as well as to shape the
world wide public opinion and helps to build a desired image of the country.
RESEARCH’S METHODOLOGY
The working paper will cover the hypothesis: the specific international status of
Taiwan determines the tools that Taiwan uses in its Public Diplomacy. Therefore,
there are research questions as follows:
Robert Rajczyk, Grażyna Piechota: Public Diplomacy
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• How is Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy conducted? What are the subjects of
Taiwanese Public Diplomacy?
• What methods and techniques are used?
The survey shall obtain the Taiwanese authorities’ reactivity to the important
events and phenomena in the world, e.g., the Summer Universiade 2017 in Taipei
and its impact on the global image of the Republic of China and its international
recognition, as well as the interconnection between those issues and the activity
as far as Public Diplomacy is concerned.
As an introduction to the project, an important division shall be made. The
composition of Public Diplomacy consists of many sub-disciplines such as:
cultural, economic, scientific or digital diplomacy. The studies will cover only
the English content.
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY INSTITUTIONS
The ROC’s Public Diplomacy shall be considered in its three aspects: institutional, strategic, and operational. The first one depends on the Constitution of
the Republic of China. According to this document, the President of the Republic
of China is the Chief of State and he or she represents the Republic of China in
foreign relations. The Executive Yuan plays a role of the government with the
Prime Minister as a leader, whereas the Legislative Yuan is the parliament. The
government takes efforts in Public Affairs while the parliament develops the
congressional diplomacy. There are the Department of Information Services,
the Department of Information Management and the Department of Public
Relations in the structure of the Executive Yuan. As far as the institutional aspect
is concerned, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be mentioned here. The MOFA
maintains diplomatic relations with eighteen states throughout the world as well
as with the rest of the world in the formula of international relations: economic
and cultural. The Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs is supervised
by the MOFA. As far as Public Diplomacy is concerned, the IDIA provides
workshops concerning that subject. Moreover, there are also Public Diplomacy
Coordination Council and the Department of International Information Services. Both institutions’ tasks include well-planned centrally coordinated Public
Diplomacy agenda, e.g., e-diplomacy or foreign media service. One of the Deputy
Ministers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs supervises those two institutional
bodies.
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National branding is one of the important issues related to Public Diplomacy
efforts. There is the Taiwan Tourist Bureau in the structure of the Ministry of
Transport and Communication responsible for the touristic promotion of the
Republic of China. Nevertheless, according to President Tsai’s inaugural address,
the economic development is one of the most important issues for the government. The Bureau of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been
responsible for the foreign trade promotion.
Radio Taiwan International is another institution that could be involved in
Public Diplomacy’s activity. It broadcasts its programs in 13 languages providing
the latest news from Taiwan to the listeners throughout the world and bringing
the Taiwanese point of view on global issues to the audiences abroad.
The activity on the institutional level is state-subordinated due to all the
above-mentioned institutions’ subjection to the government or having the status
of a public institution.
The non-governmental activity is the second aspect which enhances Taiwan’s
international visibility. For instance, it is the humanitarian aid conducted, among
others, by Taiwan International Health Action or other NGOs and non-profit
organizations such as TAITRA or Tzu-Chi, Taiwan’s largest Buddhist charity.
Non-governmental organizations in Taiwan have been dynamically developing since the end of the martial law. Bonnie S. Glaser in her considerations
devoted to the Taiwanese civil society emphasizes that: “Since martial law was
lifted in 1987 and movement toward democratization made in the 1990s, Taiwan’s
domestic and international NGO participation has flourished. Today Taiwan
has over 40,000 NGOs, some 2,100 of which operate internationally. Many of
Taiwan’s nongovernmental representatives are warmly received abroad, especially
in humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, health aid, and environmental activities. This has provided Taiwan a degree of access to organizations and countries
it otherwise would be denied” (Glaser, 2013, p. 29).
The development of civil society in the Republic of China has been politically
supported since the turn of the 1980s and the 1990s, seeing in the organizations’
activity not only the possibility of enhancing governance as a system of managing
public affairs on the national ground but seeing in the subject of organizations’
activity and their international presence chances to achieve image objectives –
engraving in the consciousness of the international community that ROC is the
only democratic China. Moreover, perceiving their role as actors supporting the
subjectivity of Taiwan in international relations and thus the chance for public
diplomacy.
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The International Cooperation and Development Fund of Taiwan should be
mentioned here as a unique example. It is an independent organization with the
status of a consortium of juridical persons. It develops agricultural, educational,
environment, public health and medicine, information and communication
technology’s themes with the MOFA’s cooperation that has commissioned some
funds.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), since 2000 creating the committee for non-governmental organizations, has undertaken effective attempts to
globalize the perspective of activity carried out by the Taiwanese NGOs, thus
assuming their use in public diplomacy. Taiwan has been engaged in projects
aligned with the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as: international humanitarian aid and medical assistance, eradicating poverty and disease,
promoting democracy and human rights, and environmental sustainability.
Activities undertaken by the MOFA concern both the support for Taiwanese
organizations and starting cooperation with global non-governmental organizations and also carrying out educational activities making it possible for the
employees of administration, the third sector, schools and students to increase
their ability to participate in international affairs and extend international
perspectives of their activity. Currently in the world there are almost 400 active
Taiwanese organizations.
The activities of Taiwanese non-governmental organizations on a global scale
are concentrated around two main issues. The first one is promoting democracy
and human rights and support for and cooperation with global NGOs, what
politically situates Taiwan (and lets it be perceived in this way) as the only
democratic China. In Taiwan, international meetings and conferences devoted
to NGOs and INGOs take place. Also offices are opened by global NGOs such
as Reporters Sans Frontiers that protect democracy, freedom and human rights,
what is a clear signal to acknowledge Taiwan as a country where such values are
followed. Another area are actions aimed at the international community as an
example of building “people-to-people diplomacy”, which is based on organizing
humanitarian aid for countries that are in need, taking part in removing the
effects of disasters and also medical, developmental and environmental aid. This
aspect of mainly aiding and humanitarian and development activities is aimed
at building the awareness and enhancing the positive image of Taiwan directly
among the beneficiaries of the Taiwanese NGOs.
As Bonnie S. Glaser (2013) points out: “Greater NGO participation has
increased Taiwan’s international profile and provided an avenue for Taiwan
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to interact with states around the world in a cooperative fashion. Taiwan’s
international NGOs have also enabled the island to engage in unofficial forms
of international and people-to-people diplomacy, which has promoted better
relations with countries both in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world”
(Glaser, 2013, pp. 30).
Both spheres of NGOs’ activity in the international arena are thus concentrated on the activities that should be treated as soft power activities – image
enhancement, promoting positive message about a country, as well as establishing relationships between societies and building trust in the national brand.
According to Steve Tsang (2008): “[T]he soft power [is] inherent in Taiwan`s
impressive democratization, and [this is] one way of asserting influence that
the ROC government used effectively for decades even before the advent of real
democracy in Taiwan. […] Indeed, considering its inability to gain international
recognition or membership of the UN, and given that its need to defend itself
against China completely absorbs its considerable military capabilities, soft
power is of greater importance to Taiwan that to any other country” (Tsang,
2008, pp. 9–10). Kelly Gerard (2014) claims that the role of civil society organizations is growing thanks to including civic institutions into political processes:
“Regional and global governance institutions have increasingly included Civil
Society Organizations in policymaking. Scholars have documented this trend,
highlighting its growing prevalence and limitations. […] It also highlights the
vast spectrum of mechanisms for civil society participation that exists across
institutions, and the subsequent differing abilities of CSOs to influence policy
and shape political outcomes” (Gerard, 2014, pp. 173–174). Non-governmental
organizations as the ones active outside government relations but serving political functions have become an actor thanks to which participation of Taiwan in
international relations is possible. This is emphasized by Gary D. Rawnsley
(2014), writing: “Public diplomacy from civil society and among NGOs can be
considered a by-product of a nation’s soft power because their work reflects
a democratic culture that encourages pluralism, diversity and charity. They are
also largely immune from changes in ruling parties and their ideological positions. For this reason, Taiwan’s civil society offers soft power advantages over the
PRC where the government manages the non-governmental sector, and therefore
lacks the kind of credibility that would make it an agent of soft power. Moreover,
the non-governmental sector is able to forge and sustain meaningful long-term
relationships with groups and individuals overseas” (Rawnsley, 2014, p. 164). As
Wen-Jong Juang (2015) analyzing the political role of Taiwanese NGOs remarks,
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their role will be rising: “As NGOs become increasingly professional and independent with enhanced capabilities for policy analysis they will be considered
as taking a dominant and representative role on certain issues. This recognition
will facilitate the promotion of their preferred policy solutions and as a result
the goals of the organization will be accomplished” (Wen-Jong, 2015, p. 166).
Another important factor achieved through the inclusion of media in
providing information devoted to the activity of Taiwanese non-governmental
organizations is the narration of the history of Taiwan, which emphasizes the
shift from authoritarian rule to representative democracy. Democracy and its
values have become an actual Taiwan’s export commodity.
Activity of the Taiwanese civil society which has become the promotor of
Chinese democracy leading to polarization of the ROC and the PRC in the
reception of the international community is also used in the soft power for the
benefit of conducting politics in Taiwan, limiting the influence of mainland
China on the internal policy of the ROC.
As far as the strategic dimension is concerned, steadfast diplomacy is the key
issue of the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen (term 2016–2020)2. The full international
recognition of the Republic of China is one of its key political issues. That agenda
also refers to the content of the strategic communication. The analysis of the
content of websites and profiles in social media of the President, the Executive
Yuan, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has revealed that Taiwanese authorities
are focused mainly on improving the economic potential of the Republic of
China using the social media. Nowadays, the Tsai’s administration social and
content media is a platform for real communication as it was during the electoral
campaign in 2015. It refers to the WHA’s issue. Because of the opposition of the
People’s Republic of China, Taiwan was excluded from the annual meeting of
the WHA. The President’s reaction was expressed on Twitter several times in
different languages, including English, in order to gain as much coverage in
social media as possible.
The dilemma of the international status of Taiwan and its correlation with
the foreign policy and communication efforts is a key issue here. Flexible or
2
Steadfast diplomacy is Tsai’s political concept which aims to “advance mutual assistance for
mutual benefits. The policy is also defined as firm in purpose and is targeted at building robust relationships with diplomatic allies and countries that share the common values of freedom and democracy. Under this approach, the focus of the country’s diplomatic work is shifting from the one-way
provision of foreign aid to two-way dialogue, with bilateral cooperation projects taking into consideration the development of both industries and markets” (Forreign Affairs, 2018).
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viable diplomacy initiated in 1993 is the main way of conducting the Taiwanese
diplomacy (Yahuda, 1996, p. 285). It means that efforts are focused on improving the economic potential and the presence in the international community.
The latter could be described as a “southward policy” which means “a desire to
avoid becoming excessively dependent upon economic ties with the mainland”,
whereas the steadfast diplomacy might be considered as a step to gain the full
international recognition of the ROC (Yahuda, 1996, p. 290).
As far as the foreign policy agenda is concerned, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs is reporting the agenda’s purposes regularly to the Legislative Yuan. Public
Diplomacy is developed in these documents, i.e., the role of Taiwanese NGOs in
international humanitarian affairs and creating the positive image of the ROC.
Continuing to promote participation in international organizations through
pragmatic approaches is supposed to be one of the most important purposes of
Taiwanese foreign policy. Due to that, Taiwan is able to function and coexist in
the international community, e.g., in international aviation, maritime transport
or navigation, etc.
EXECUTIVE DIMENSION OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
The operational aspect of public diplomacy brings the analysis of different
projects implemented by many institutional subjects as well as citizens.
The type of public diplomacy refers to the tool that has been used. So the
Public Diplomacy consists of, e.g.: cultural diplomacy, economic diplomacy,
NGO diplomacy, scientific diplomacy, citizen diplomacy, digital diplomacy,
Public Affairs, as well as national branding or event marketing. The latter helps
to build the national brand especially due to, e.g., international sport events.
Moreover, event marketing, or sport diplomacy ought to be mentioned. There is
a tight correlation between national branding and the signification of international events such as Universiade, for example. The 2017 Summer Universiade
gives the Taiwanese authorities a brilliant possibility to promote Formosa (the
old name for Taiwan) as a touristic destination both for the academic sports
fans as well as for the academic athletes. Because of Taiwan’s unique status in
international affairs, Taiwanese competitors attended the Universiade under
the name of “Chinese Taipei”. The differentiation between Taiwan, the Republic
of China, and “Chinese Taipei” is important for increasing the country’s brand
awareness. It might also be a way to influence the international community to
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persuade the discussion about Taiwan’s status in international affairs. Besides
official promotion about the Universiade, there were many examples of guerrilla
marketing, such as transforming Taipei’s metro into a “swimming pool”. The
event was widely open for the public. The tickets, for instance, were available in
every shop via payment machines.
As far as the issue of Taiwan as a tourist destination is concerned, the content
of mass media and social media about Universiade has been prepared in a professional way. It contains layout that is easy to navigate and is friendly to users.
What is more, there are plenty of useful pieces of information designed for the
fans or tourists. Tourism is supposed to become an important part of the state’s
economy, that is why the touristic promotion is a key issue in Public Diplomacy
due to its connection with people-to-people relations, which help to build the
image of the national brand. The latter could also be valuable3.
Nowadays, selling emotions is the key to persuade tourists to come and visit
a destination. So the storytelling about a place plays a significant role. Although
historical monuments and buildings are also important but without the plot, the
promotion is not as effective as it could be with the storytelling. The dilemma is
how to attract the desired audience. Nowadays, the Internet is supposed to be the
main source of information. It means that the role of recommendation and sharing the opinion of Internet users is much more reliable than any other slogans
or leaflets. Besides the emotions, the desired audience ought to be reached in
its typical information milieu. The Taiwan Tourist Bureau has several websites
dedicated to different aspects of Internet communication. Profiling the content
towards the desired audience is a key issue that guarantees the success in that
process. Each of the websites emblems the unique approach of publicity and
symbolizes the trends in modern communication, e.g., Trending Taiwan is a tool
of digital diplomacy or a website designed as a platform to find an interesting event (www.eventaiwan.tw) – an example of event marketing and place
marketing. Trending Taiwan features captivating videos and information which
introduce diverse and intriguing aspects of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The international visibility and the Taiwanese contribution or participation in
the international community is also under consideration during the analysis of
Trending Taiwan.
3
Taiwan’s nation brand value is estimated at 469 billion USD, according to the Nation Brands
2016. The Annual Report on the World’s Most Valuable Nation Brands (2017).
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The core idea of Taiwan’s touristic promotion is coherent with the content.
The slogans such as: “Taiwan. Touch Your Heart”, “Time for Taiwan – Time for
Celebration”, or “Time for Taiwan”, “Anytime for Taiwan”, and “Taiwan. The Heart
of Asia”, have been corresponding with users’ interests and modern trends in
communication. All those projects mentioned above concerned bringing the
emotions to the participants. The content is managed with videos and photos.
This trend of visualization correlates with the model of social or mass media
coverage requirements. The webpage about Taiwan’s tourism ambassador OhBear
is also the example of this phenomenon and helps to sell Taiwan’s tourist brand
with the mascot. Besides, the fondness for mascots has been a social phenomenon
throughout the East Asia, especially in Japan, Mainland China, or the Republic
of China.
The storytelling and the wide use of the Internet are the most important
tools of promotion nowadays. The digital diplomacy – the diplomacy via
social and content media made by different subjects, either governmental or
non-governmental, e.g., citizens – is a key instrument to communicate the ideas
because of the social media popularity. After all, the results gained by the digital
diplomacy efforts might be considered helpful in persuading the international
public opinion that implies the possibility of changing the foreign governments’
policy towards the host of digital diplomacy.
The national brand built by efficient communication influences the countryof-origin effect, which is extremely vital for the country’s economy. There are
many instruments to promote country’s brands and products. International trade
provides different possibilities, i.e., participation in international affairs due to
the economic potential.
The promotion of the Taiwanese trade is done in many ways: as economic
diplomacy on the one hand, or as corporate diplomacy on the other. There are
a few projects concerning trade promotion abroad, e.g.: Taiwan Excellence, Trade
Show or Taiwan Product Center, Global Government Procurement Project and
trade missions or even the online catalogue of Taiwanese products.
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and the Bureau
of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economic Affairs coordinate all of them.
Furthermore, the Taiwan Excellence program is a project designed to support
the Taiwanese products in order to build reliable relations with customers abroad
based on the country-of-origin effect. For example, in July 2017 in Malaysia,
which is believed to be one of the most efficient emerging markets, Taiwan Excellence in Kuala Lumpur Monorail – a unique means of transportation popular
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among tourists – organized the promotional campaign. Taiwan Industry Image
Enhancement Project (IEP) is another example of enhancing the innovative
image of Taiwanese industry. The project is targeting 15 countries. Taiwanese
economic diplomacy is supposed to be treated as an effective one due to the position of Taiwan’s economy in the global economic exchange as well as the image
of Taiwanese brands mainly in the IT industry (HTC, ASUS) or bicycle industry,
e.g., Giant, or Merida. Nonetheless, the efficiency of the country-of-origin effect
is exercised by an image of the brand. In such a case, the corporate diplomacy
plays a significant role because of the Corporate Social Responsibility’s activities
(Tang & Li, 2011). Sometimes, corporate diplomacy merges cooperation between
a state-owned promotion agency and private entrepreneurs. The example comes
from Singapore where the campaign with the slogan “Rediscover Taiwan” was
launched on billboards sponsored by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau accompanied
with the promotional campaign of Taiwanese private airlines in July 2017.
Eventually, both tourist promotion and trade promotion are exercised via
Internet due to its position in global network of communication. The emotions
are sold in both cases. In the first one, the emotions are concerned with storytelling, in the other, with the product’s Public Relations. It has been exercised through
the new media, content media and social media as well. Usually, the state-owned
television or radio channels exercise mass media diplomacy. In Taiwan, there
is Radio Taiwan International, which broadcasts its program in several foreign
languages and offers content via mobile applications in these languages in order
to provide the listeners with a wide range of Taiwanese culture, history and
society issues throughout the world. The Taiwan Broadcasting Service (TBS) is
a public television consortium that consists of the Chinese Television System and
the Public Television Service. The former began its history as a joint venture of
two Taiwanese ministries. The latter is the first independent public broadcasting
institution in Taiwan. It holds public television channels in Taiwan, does not offer
the channel for diaspora or foreign audiences, media diplomacy is developed
through satellite broadcasting or Internet streaming, for instance to Mainland
China. What is more, Taiwanese media stand for the alternative and objective
source of information for the Chinese compatriots living in Mainland China,
Macau, and Hong Kong.
Cultural diplomacy is also related to media coverage. The content that has
been broadcast via mass media to the audience abroad (foreigners or diaspora)
involves promotion of the culture. Although there is no television channel
designed for these viewers in Taiwan, some productions are distributed with
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the worldwide online streaming platform Netflix or due to the international
co-production. International cultural exchange shall be mentioned and programs developed for foreigners on the spot such as “Mandarin On-the-Go”
that is a Mandarin learning program which invites foreigners to learn about
Taiwan’s culture. They promote not only the Taiwanese culture but also Taiwan
as a sovereign country raising the foreign audiences’ awareness of the ROC and
its successful existence in the international community.
As far as the culture is concerned, the religion is a part of it. The religion could
be a link between the nations or people of the same confession. The example
comes from Mainland China where for example Buddhism, a traditional religion,
was revived due to the engagement of a religious foundation from Taiwan which
had sponsored the process as well as the charity (Yun-han, 2011, pp. 127–130).
The charity activity also plays an important role in public diplomacy. Usually
it has been exercised by private individuals – entrepreneurs – but mostly by the
NGOs as NGO diplomacy. Humanitarian aid or charity networks provide the possibility to raise Taiwan’s presence in the international community. These activities
are politically neutral and provide Taiwan with a good image. The same situation
appears with the development aid. Taiwan is a very active country in this field4.
Sport, culture and science are said to be non-political activities. They regard
people-to-people relations during the individual contact. “The Youth Ambassadors” program shall be mentioned here. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of China launched it in 2009 to promote Taiwanese soft power and over
1400 students have been involved in it since its beginning. It shall be pointed
out here that the Youth Ambassadors project is open especially for participants
of non-Taiwanese ethnic origin. They are more efficient in communication and
cooperation with people of similar ethnicity or compatriots abroad.
Citizen diplomacy is also endorsed by the volunteers who work and help
to promote their country and shape its image abroad. There are: Taiwan Youth
Overseas Service, and TaiwanICDF Overseas Volunteers Service, for example.
Together with participants of the Youth Ambassadors project, the volunteers work
on enhancing the awareness of Taiwanese sovereignty and Taiwan’s unique status
in international relations. That might influence public opinion. Then the people
may persuade or motivate its own government to make some decisions concerning the enhancement of the ROC’s presence in the international community.
4
See more about the Taiwanese humanitarian aid in: Passion and Care. 2000–2006: The Story of
Taiwan’s Global Health Humanitarian Aid (2007).
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Scientific diplomacy is yet another way to practice Public Diplomacy. It
mainly consists of the students and academics’ exchange programs that are
usually sponsored by the state-based subjects, i.e., public institutions or NGOs.
Scientific research symbolizes the freedom of demonstrating the plurality of
thinking. Taiwan offers scholars a wide range of scholarships. The review of the
list of recipients and topics of their projects shall be interpreted as an analysis
of contemporary Taiwan and its achievements as well as its history, the role
in international affairs, and is related to Taiwan’s democracy or human rights
because of Taiwan’s status of being the only one Chinese democracy. The results
of the international academics’ research projects mean Taiwan’s inclusion into
the international academic mainstream. The international scientific exchange
programs provide the opportunity to share Taiwanese history, culture and values
throughout the wide audiences in different countries and to promote Taiwan as
a tourist destination. The advertisement based on the personal recommendation
is much more reliable than any other means of promotion so it is an excellent way
to point out the Taiwanese brands or Taiwan as a sovereign state. The scientific
diplomacy also has its practical dimension that might be important to solve the
global issues such as global warming or natural disasters.
INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSIONS
OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
The Public Affairs’ aim is to inform foreign governments or citizens publicly. It
could be called information policy or propaganda. Besides the social or content
media, it consists of, e.g., official publications. The “Taiwan Panorama”, widely
available in foreign Taiwan’s offices around the world, or “Taiwan Today” and
the “Republic of China. Yearbook” are the examples of shaping and framing
Taiwan’s image through the audiences outside Taiwan. Those periodicals are
delivered to the readers in a few foreign languages. Their content covers regularly the most important events in Taiwan in politics, culture, sport, economy,
society, and environment. All of these publications including “The Republic of
China (Taiwan) at a Glance” are available on-line for free in popular foreign
languages.
The Public Diplomacy Coordination Council and the Department of International Information Services in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs perform Public
Affairs duties successfully.
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Although, Yun-han Chu notes that many “[…] of the island’s social actors
pursue their own political, social, and/or cultural agenda when they become
involved in cross-Strait cultural exchange” (Yun-han, 2011, p. 121). That is why
the strategy is important in making Public Diplomacy. So the key issue must
be obviously set up. According to Taiwan’s international status, it could be culture – the traditional Chinese one and modern Taiwanese – or the efficiency
of democracy as a concept contrary to the People’s Republic of China political
regime. Due to that, more attention is being paid to Taiwan and its unique international status. Setting up culture and democracy as narratives helps to persuade
audiences around the world to sympathize with the ROC.
According to Katarzyna Pisarska’s parallel model, the Taiwanese public
diplomacy might be classified as a constructive one. The constructive type of
public diplomacy consists of:
– values and ideas as key actors,
– cooperation to redefine the international system as a key interest,
– power-sharing schemes of sources of power,
– contributing to the public global good,
– collaboration and networking as a mode of communication,
– humanitarian and development aid as a preferred instrument (Pisarska,
2016).
Effective public diplomacy requires legitimacy from the society. Pisarska
stands for three aspects of public diplomacy’s domestic outreach:
– identity – defining a platform in order to strengthen the nation,
– informative – explaining foreign policy to domestic publics,
– cooperative – engaging civil society in state Public Diplomacy and supporting independent NGO diplomacy.
Reconciliation could be the value to be developed for Public Diplomacy. It
may help to frame news from Taiwan in the global mass media circulation. The
DPP’s administration promotes ethnic diversity of the country in an institutional
way. There are: the National Day of Indigenous People on August 1st, the Hakka
Affairs Council and the Council of Indigenous Peoples in the structure of the
Executive Yuan as well as a nationwide radio station for them or even a television
channel and virtual museum. Moreover, the ethnic history of Taiwan comes up as
an issue in public debate as a tool to distinguish Taiwanese culture. It was shown
to the world during the opening ceremony of the 29< Summer Universiade in
Taipei in 2017.
Robert Rajczyk, Grażyna Piechota: Public Diplomacy
247
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Despite the unique status in international affairs, the international visibility of the
Republic of China is not questionable due to the efforts made by the government,
civil society and citizens.
Public Diplomacy starts on the individual level due to the digital diplomacy
that should be considered as the most effective one because of its reliability.
Citizen diplomacy or NGOs’ diplomacy shall be separated from the government’s
activities in order to maintain credibility.
But the cooperation and integration of efforts must be done on the domestic
level. Bonnie S. Glaser recommends some issues to improve Taiwan’s participation in the international NGOs such as continuing to block China’s efforts to
interfere in Taiwan’s international presence as well as lobbing to expend Taiwanese
participation in regional NGOs (Glaser, 2013, pp. 39–41). Glaser also notices that
NGO participation abroad has benefited Taiwan but it has not been an effective
substitute for official status in multilateral institutions (Glaser, 2013, p. 31).
According to the performed SWOT analysis presented below, the main Taiwanese public diplomacy’s obstacles are of socio-economical nature and they
also involve China’s political pressure on the international community.
Table 1. Taiwanese Public Diplomacy SWOT Analysis
Positive
Negative
Strengths
Internal
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
stable democracy
ancient culture
well-developed civil society
innovation economy
hi-tech
hospitality (people-to-people diplomacy)
fellowships
NGOs’ diplomacy
Weaknesses
•
•
•
•
low birth rate
low economic growth
unemployment
brain drain
Opportunities
Threats
External
•
•
•
•
expats: Contact Taiwan Program
development assistance
humanitarian aid
working holidays program
Source: authors’ own elaboration.
• unique international status
• instances of PRC’s interferences
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Public diplomacy is a tool to enhance relevance and prevent marginalization
in the region and the world stage at large. Despite the predicament and due to
the high level of economic growth, Taiwan is faced to be a vulnerable, reliable,
responsible and significant member of the international community. The official
development assistance and humanitarian aid shall be provided as the most
effective tools in order to enhance Taiwan’s international visibility. The specific
international status of the ROC does not determine public diplomacy’s activity.
The content depends on state authorities’ political agenda. Notwithstanding
the political ideology, Taiwan’s public diplomacy conducted by the government
or public institutions subordinated to authorities is state-based and centrally
coordinated. It means an unequivocal message and integrated efforts that ensure
the efficiency and depict the ROC as a modern economy with a stable and liberal
democracy. That is the core idea of Taiwanese public diplomacy supported by
other non-state based actors (citizens, NGOs, etc.) who have been involved
in the process of communication because the success in public diplomacy is
not possible without the individual aspect in that process. It requires the civil
society’s involvement. The acceptance of the society is the crucial issue in Public
Diplomacy’s achievements. Nowadays, it is a trend to facilitate the value of soft
power for East Asian countries (Lee & Melissen, 2011, p. 8).
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