Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-30
By: Wendy Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
President Tsai Ing-wen said Thursday that the “checkbook diplomacy” that Taiwan once 
practiced had ended a long time ago. “Taiwan has become a very different country,” she said.
In response to media inquiry, Tsai said the “checkbook diplomacy” that Taiwan was once criticized for no longer existed, since Taiwan has become a very different country, and many things need to be examined and regulated by law.
“Checkbook diplomacy” is traditionally defined as a country using economic clout as a political tool, to buy diplomatic allies in the name of foreign assistance.
Citing Paraguay as an example, Tsai said she has come to Paraguay for only two purposes: to double the number of students to be awarded under Taiwan’s scholarship program to study in the island from 14 to 28, and to raise import quotas for beef from the South American country. “These are the only two things that I am here for, and if I did not tell you about any other issues, it means there is nothing to tell,” she said. [FULL STORY]
