Around the World in 13 Days:On the Road with the Head of State

In August, President Chen Shui-bian led a delegation of more than 100 persons, including ministers, government officials, legislators, and business leaders, on a trip to six diplomatic partner states: the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Costa Rica in Central America, and Gambia, Burkina Faso and Chad in Africa. The 13-day tour demonstrates the new admini-stration's ambitions on the foreign relations front. Of course, given the frequent change of time zones and jam-packed itineraries, the trip was also exhausting-even busier than an election!

On this excursion, which took the delegation on a complete circuit around the world, it was amazing to see the richness and diversity of the cultures among Taiwan's diplomatic partners. On August 20, when the delegation arrived in Gambia, nicknamed "the Smile Coast," President Chen was delighted by the welcome offered by more than 10,000 citizens lining a route of more than 10 kilometers. During the presidential election in March, he had called for "a million people to stand up." It seems that he got his wish in Gambia!

Besides bringing out the natural friendship between people, the trip also deepened mutual understanding and interaction. President Chen stated that, through "head-of-state" diplomacy, he wanted to extol the democratic achievement of Taiwan's peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another, and consolidate friendly relations with the ROC's diplomatic partners. He also wanted to demonstrate the stability and continuity of Taiwan's foreign policy under the new administration. He told his hosts that past promises would not only be "essentially fulfilled," but also that, for humanitarian reasons, ROC foreign aid would definitely be increased in the future.

Taiwan's agricultural technical cooperation teams have done great things abroad. In the Bagre area of Burkina Faso, a technical team has transformed a desert into fertile fields. It is very much like being in rural Taiwan, as President Chen found to his delight.

Determination is power

Yet, amidst the enthusiasm overseas and the play given to the trip by the media at home, some commentators-not hesitating to spoil the fun-argue that the country's diplomatic difficulties and foreign aid policy remain unimproved by the trip. Some even suggest that President Chen should never have traveled abroad at all while confidence in the domestic situation was at such a low ebb.

Adding fuel to the fire, a number of controversies arose on the trip, ironically as a result of the transparency brought by the very democracy Chen wanted to extol. In the Dominican Republic, a slip of the tongue by the speaker of that country's parliament raised clouds of suspicion about "covert financial assistance." In Nicaragua, some papers published large articles criticizing the "checkbook diplomacy" underlying ROC-Nicaraguan ties. In both the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, the ROC ambassadors were very outspoken in their briefings to the president, which were carried out with the media present. Some speculated that the new government is having problems communicating with senior diplomatic personnel, though it is also possible the diplomats were simply trying to draw the new administration's attention to previously existing problems and thereby strengthen the country's foreign policy. Another embarrassment was that the itinerary for the junket, which was ballyhooed as "democratic diplomacy," included some countries which are only at a very early stage of democracy, drawing ridicule over an alleged "gap between rhetoric and reality."

Throughout his journey, President Chen spoke with the media to address these controversies and explain the new admini-stration's approach to foreign policy. He admitted that, because of unremitting pressure from the PRC, the ROC remains in difficult straits internationally. While other countries could invest 60% effort to get 100% results, Taiwan has to invest 100% effort just to get 30% results, and the government understands, said Chen, the difficulties diplomats face. But, he said, PRC pressure is not an excuse to sit around and do nothing. He concluded: "Determination is power."

With regard to foreign aid, he said that helping diplomatic partners is Taiwan's right and also its duty. Though these countries are not rich or powerful, "you can't measure everything by the same yardstick." Though the economies of some diplomatic partners are too weak, and their democracies are immature, Taiwan must be willing to share its experience, in which economic takeoff spurred political democratization, and work together with diplomatic partner states to "stand up and move on out."

The delegation returned home on August 25. According to a public opinion poll taken by the Taipei City branch of the Democratic Progressive Party, 73.7% of respondents agreed that the president's journey would be helpful to the country's foreign relations, while 76.5% agreed that it would not increase tensions with mainland China.

Eugene Chien, vice secretary-general of the Office of the President, states that from the point of view of outcomes, the trip was a success, particularly in passing three tests: First, under the leadership of Premier Tang Fei, the so-called Chen-Tang system proved very stable at home while the president was away. Secondly, the recent conference of the PRC's top leaders at Beidaihe did not produce any increased tensions with Taiwan. Third, during the trip, Taiwan was hit by a typhoon, and the government's disaster response capabilities proved up to the task.

Jaw-ling Joanne Chang of the Academia Sinica's Institute of European and American studies also gave a positive assessment of this "head-of-state" diplomacy. She said that there were several items of particular significance about Chen's trip: First, Chen has just taken office, and in the past he was relatively unfamiliar with foreign policy. This outing was the fastest way to get him familiar with foreign affairs. Further, states

The ROC North American Chamber of Commerce purposely scheduled its annual board of directors meeting to coincide with Chen Shui-bian's trip to the Dominican Republic. The welcoming committee looked very eye-catching set against the sky-blue backdrop.

The whole ball of wax

However, head-of-state diplomacy requires mobilization of considerable manpower and money. Lee Ying-yuan, a DPP legislator tipped to be the next deputy representative to the United States, who accompanied Chen on the trip, justifies the cost by arguing that such diplomacy is of "the highest strategic significance." Of course, a visit by a head of state is like a magic sword one keeps in reserve, only to be used when necessary, otherwise its effectiveness will be blunted, and it will no longer be worth the costs involved.

Despite the gains that can be made from head-of-state diplomacy, Liu Pi-jung, a professor of political science at Soochow University, is not without reservations. He says that of course no diplomatic stone should be left unturned. But there is one key question to ask: While head-of-state visits stir up a great deal of interest in foreign relations for a time, do they set in motion a process of general improvement in the overall situation?

For example, when former president Lee Teng-hui visited Singapore, he set important precedents, such as having the host country get around the sovereignty issue by calling him "President Lee from Taiwan," and the Taiwan side responding by saying "we are not satisfied with this, but we can accept it." The enthusiasm generated for this approach lasted through Lee's visit to Cornell University in the US. But still, after several trips abroad by state leaders, there was no major improvement in the overall situation.

Vis-a-vis Chen's trip, says Liu, most analysts in Taiwan wanted to know: Was there a comprehensive policy package to go with the president's trip? If it was a purely ritual journey, he says, then perhaps its wisdom was debatable.

Applying this logic specifically to the question of financial aid, economic power is one of Taiwan's few foreign policy strengths, but there must be some method behind the moneybags. Liu suggests that head-of-state diplomacy should only be conducted in the context of an overall foreign policy structure, in which foreign aid is also included in a more transparent manner with a mechanism for supervision (established through legislation). In this way, foreign aid will have public support, foreign policy will be coherent, and the overall situation can be improved.

Taiwan's foreign assistance includes upgrading educational facilities. In the smiling faces of these children in Burkina Faso, there is hope for the future.

Not just realpolitik

Undeniably, head-of-state diplomacy is an indicator of a new approach to foreign relations. But the president's journey was important in more ways than simply the diplomatic. It was even more impressive to see the enthusiasm of citizens in the various countries and also the great efforts being made by ROC staff and technical advisors overseas.

Lee Ying-yuan admits that, even when it comes to spreading money around, Taiwan cannot compete with mainland China. The only thing Taiwan really has to win the hearts and minds of citizens in diplomatic partner states is the Taiwan experience, created by the joint efforts of the people and the government. For countries that are still struggling to develop economically and to build democracy, the Taiwan experience has great appeal-and no one else can offer anything like it.

Take Gambia for example. The agricultural assistance team from Taiwan has helped that country increase rice production several times over. No wonder Gambians welcomed the Chen delegation so enthusiastically. What Taiwan's diplomatic partners need is not fish, it seems, but fishing poles.

Several legislators along on the trip commented that they went abroad "under the shadow of checkbook diplomacy" but returned home "basking in sunshine." They are convinced that humanitarian assistance is necessary and should be permanent. Some even suggested that service in agricultural assistance teams be allowed to substitute for compulsory military service, so that even more young people from Taiwan can participate in international humanitarian assistance.

Let's go back for a moment to August 22nd. Taiwan's delegation was then visiting the Bagre Reclamation project in Burkina Faso. Land that had once been desert, with temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius and intensely hot winds, has been converted by the agricultural technical team, through irrigation, into rice paddies on which local farmers grow the "Taihsien #2" rice strain. Perhaps, rather than discuss the international power politics of ROC diplomacy, you can look at the 30 years of effort invested in that African plain by the sons of a Pacific Island. If you do, all the talk of "foreign policy" disappears behind a sheet of emerald green, and in the mind's eye appear golden kernels of hope.