Taiwan faces an uphill struggle in communicating with the world; it is essential that the appropriate bureaucratic structures are put in place to make facing that struggle a little easier.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/06
By: Gary Rawnsley

On Aug. 25, 2016, China’s Xinhua News Agency posted a short film on Twitter about the construction of a pipeline between Fujian province and Jinmen. Once finished, the pipeline will divert water from China to help this “Islet of Taiwan” overcome shortages. In just 44 seconds, a powerful narrative was established: Taiwan has problems; and Jinmen must depend on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), not Taiwan’s elected government, to solve those problems.

Where was the official response from the government of Taiwan? By its silence, Taipei deferred control of the story – and of audience perceptions – to the PRC’s news agencies. China has a major presence in social media: On Twitter alone there is, in English, Xinhua, the People’s Daily, the Global Times, CCTV, and CCTV America. Other foreign ministries in East Asia, including Japan and Korea, are present in an official capacity in the social media: Where is Taiwan?

For twenty years, I have been researching and writing about Taiwan’s external communications – it’s propaganda, public diplomacy, cultural relations, and what is now called “soft power.” I remain committed to understanding how a state with few diplomatic allies and omission from the most important international organizations can use external communications to project globally its values and ambitions, and thereby further its political and diplomatic agenda. Taiwan, locked in an international environment that limits its manoeuvrability, is a perfect example. My first comprehensive study of this subject was published in 2000 as Taiwan’s Informal Diplomacy and Propaganda, and subsequently translated into Chinese.     [FULL  STORY]