Taiwan’s dwindling diplomatic partnerships remain essential to its future.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/08/17
By: By Lauren Dickey, The Interpreter
Credit: Reuters / TPG
Since 1971, when the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 2758 and recognized the People’s Republic of China as “the only legitimate representatives of China”, Taiwan has faced increasing challenges from Beijing that impact Taipei’s ability to maintain formal diplomatic relationships. These pressures have become particularly acute in the past few years as some of Taiwan’s formal allies have been enticed into normalizing relations with Beijing.
As long as countries continue to formally recognize Taipei, Taiwan will fulfil one of the criteria of sovereignty: the ability to maintain foreign relationships.
At the time of writing, only 17 countries and the Holy See maintained formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. These small-country diplomatic relationships underpin Taiwan’s ability to assert autonomy and maintain de facto sovereignty amid Chinese efforts for unification.
A small polity, such as Taiwan, is certainly cognizant that its ability to influence international politics through military, economic, or political means may not be commensurate with the abilities of great powers. Diplomacy is thus a particularly potent tool of statecraft. Diplomatic partnerships, both formal and informal, provide a mechanism for Taiwan to influence world opinion and engage with other countries. [FULL STORY]
