正文
Nicholas Kulish (New York Times)
Taiwan’s small circle of international supporters — countries that have diplomatic relations with the 23 million inhabitants of the island known as the Republic of China instead of the 1.3 billion of the People’s Republic across the Taiwan Strait — got a little bit tighter earlier this month when Costa Rica announced that it was switching its allegiance to China.
The move by Costa Rica, a Central American nation with four million people, was the eighth defection from Taiwan’s side since 2000, following in the small footsteps of Chad, Senegal, Grenada, Vanuatu, Dominica, Liberia and Macedonia. Roughly 170 countries recognize China, while Taiwan retains just 24. The battle has not been entirely one-sided. This year, St. Lucia, a Caribbean island nation, made the switch from China to Taiwan.
For Andrew Hsia, Taiwan’s departing consul general and its shadow ambassador to the United Nations, Costa Rica’s decision was an unfortunate capstone on his six-and-a-half-year tenure in New York, particularly in light of his friendship with the Costa Rican ambassador, Jorge Urbina. “He called me and said that he will always remain a personal friend,” said Mr. Hsia, a diplomat for 25 years.
Mr. Urbina said he was sad to learn that Mr. Hsia would be leaving for New Delhi, where he will be the Taiwanese liaison in India, but his government’s decision to recognize China was a practical one. “It’s one-fifth of humanity,” Mr. Urbina said, referring to mainland China. “It’s just a matter of common sense.”
The shift reflects China’s growing economic reach, said Douglas Paal, the former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, effectively the unofficial United States ambassador there from 2002 to 2006. “Countries that used to be remote from China now are trading partners,” he said.
Taiwan has worked diligently but also in vain to regain membership. China took its seat in 1971. China’s staunch opposition and influential Security Council veto cuts off any avenue of entry. Far from slowly gaining ground and legitimacy, Taiwan’s government has had to watch China grow stronger and more assertive on the world stage, while its own power dwindled by comparison.
The fight has been less about political pressures than financial incentives, a practice sometimes called pocketbook diplomacy. Taiwan once had far more money to lavish on development aid. China’s recent pledges of aid have garnered a great deal of attention. “The democratization of Taiwan made the executive and the Foreign Ministry more accountable to the legislature,” said Richard Bush, an Asia expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “China’s Foreign Ministry doesn’t have to be accountable to any legislature,” allowing it to spend more freely on a diplomatic chess match.
Officials at the mission say they will again push for admission to the United Nations in September. Last week Taiwan’s president, Chen Shui-bian, said he would hold a referendum in 2008 on whether to apply for United Nations membership under the name “Taiwan.” Until the switch in 1971, Taiwan held the seat for all of China. A United States State Department spokesman warned against such a referendum, saying it could increase tensions with China.
Mr. Hsia will not be around for that fight. He leaves for India this week. His successor, Kenneth Liao, began work on Friday. Mr. Liao was previously consul general for Taiwan in Houston.
When Mr. Hsia took the test to join the foreign service, he said the examiners asked him why he was not going to a law firm or a shipping company where he could make a lot more money for less work.
“I said, ‘Simply because it is difficult, it’s more challenging,’ ” he recalled. After a pause, he added, “I was young,” then began to laugh.
In New York, his job was particularly difficult: To represent Taiwan before an organization that does not recognize it as a country and does not even allow him on the premises, except as a guest. But he manages to remain philosophical about it. “We are a very pragmatic people,” Mr. Hsia said. “To us, survival is the most important thing.”
Taiwan’s small circle of international supporters — countries that have diplomatic relations with the 23 million inhabitants of the island known as the Republic of China instead of the 1.3 billion of the People’s Republic across the Taiwan Strait — got a little bit tighter earlier this month when Costa Rica announced that it was switching its allegiance to China.
The move by Costa Rica, a Central American nation with four million people, was the eighth defection from Taiwan’s side since 2000, following in the small footsteps of Chad, Senegal, Grenada, Vanuatu, Dominica, Liberia and Macedonia. Roughly 170 countries recognize China, while Taiwan retains just 24. The battle has not been entirely one-sided. This year, St. Lucia, a Caribbean island nation, made the switch from China to Taiwan.
For Andrew Hsia, Taiwan’s departing consul general and its shadow ambassador to the United Nations, Costa Rica’s decision was an unfortunate capstone on his six-and-a-half-year tenure in New York, particularly in light of his friendship with the Costa Rican ambassador, Jorge Urbina. “He called me and said that he will always remain a personal friend,” said Mr. Hsia, a diplomat for 25 years.
Mr. Urbina said he was sad to learn that Mr. Hsia would be leaving for New Delhi, where he will be the Taiwanese liaison in India, but his government’s decision to recognize China was a practical one. “It’s one-fifth of humanity,” Mr. Urbina said, referring to mainland China. “It’s just a matter of common sense.”
The shift reflects China’s growing economic reach, said Douglas Paal, the former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, effectively the unofficial United States ambassador there from 2002 to 2006. “Countries that used to be remote from China now are trading partners,” he said.
Taiwan has worked diligently but also in vain to regain membership. China took its seat in 1971. China’s staunch opposition and influential Security Council veto cuts off any avenue of entry. Far from slowly gaining ground and legitimacy, Taiwan’s government has had to watch China grow stronger and more assertive on the world stage, while its own power dwindled by comparison.
The fight has been less about political pressures than financial incentives, a practice sometimes called pocketbook diplomacy. Taiwan once had far more money to lavish on development aid. China’s recent pledges of aid have garnered a great deal of attention. “The democratization of Taiwan made the executive and the Foreign Ministry more accountable to the legislature,” said Richard Bush, an Asia expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “China’s Foreign Ministry doesn’t have to be accountable to any legislature,” allowing it to spend more freely on a diplomatic chess match.
Officials at the mission say they will again push for admission to the United Nations in September. Last week Taiwan’s president, Chen Shui-bian, said he would hold a referendum in 2008 on whether to apply for United Nations membership under the name “Taiwan.” Until the switch in 1971, Taiwan held the seat for all of China. A United States State Department spokesman warned against such a referendum, saying it could increase tensions with China.
Mr. Hsia will not be around for that fight. He leaves for India this week. His successor, Kenneth Liao, began work on Friday. Mr. Liao was previously consul general for Taiwan in Houston.
When Mr. Hsia took the test to join the foreign service, he said the examiners asked him why he was not going to a law firm or a shipping company where he could make a lot more money for less work.
“I said, ‘Simply because it is difficult, it’s more challenging,’ ” he recalled. After a pause, he added, “I was young,” then began to laugh.
In New York, his job was particularly difficult: To represent Taiwan before an organization that does not recognize it as a country and does not even allow him on the premises, except as a guest. But he manages to remain philosophical about it. “We are a very pragmatic people,” Mr. Hsia said. “To us, survival is the most important thing.”
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