Taiwan's Soft Power and Public Diplomacy

Abstract

This paper analyses how Taiwan exercises “soft power” and uses public diplomacy to engage with the international community, and to compensate for the absence of formal diplomatic relations with major powers. The research suggests that Taiwan's strategies of international engagement are constrained by its external and internal political environments. The international system (structure) has locked Taiwan into a set of challenging arrangements over which it has little control or influence, while Taiwan's public diplomacy architecture and the activities organised and undertaken by its government agencies in Taibei and its representatives abroad (agency) reveal, at best, a misunderstanding of how Taiwan's soft power might be exercised more effectively. The strategic thematic choices of legitimacy (invoking Taiwan's international status) versus credibility (which in soft power terms offers the most benefit), and the decision to privilege cultural over political themes in international communications, all have profound effects on the success of Taiwan's soft power.

Familiar Spaces: (National) Home in Contemporary Taiwanese Tourist Souvenirs

“…One may suspect, therefore, that my research material is just as ideologically marked as the official soft power programme discussed by Rawnsley (104) and simply reiterates ideas dominant while the DPP was in power, which at the time of my research made a comeback from below as part of an oppositional discourse outside the political mainstream (105) and the overly commercialised mainstream media that emerged in the context of public anxiety over re-sinification during Ma Ying-jeou's presidency (106) and over the perceived threat from China. A closer look, however, reveals that these texts do not aim at taking antagonising political or ethnic sides, but instead reflect a preoccupation with articulating and promoting Taiwan's subjectivity (107) in forms with broader appeal.…”

“…They brand Taiwan internationally, and thus work as a form of public diplomacy within the framework established by Rawnsley. (38) Hornstein's project takes into consideration both the visual images on picture postcards and the senders' textual messages written on the back side. (39) Though I acknowledge the pertinence of this approach, I only discuss the chosen souvenirs as texts in themselves, outside the context of reception, postcard exchange, and communication practices that the tourist experience implies.…”

“…Moreover, state-conducted public diplomacy is ideologically marked -its main trends are formulated according to the political agenda of the dominant party. As Ma Ying-jeou's administration was more conciliatory towards the PRC than Chen Shuibian's, its soft power activities steered away from political issues such as democracy to emphasise Taiwan's role as "preserver of traditional Chinese culture," (10) thus pushing the island into China's shade and reducing its international visibility. The Taiwan Academy, a project proposed by Ma Yingjeou in 2008 and implemented since 2011 by the Ministry of Culture, positions Taiwan as "the major Chinese cultural center where Confucianism, Buddhism, Zen [sic!…”

Indigenous Peoples as Non-State Diplomatic Actors in the Public/Cultural Diplomacy of Taiwan: a Case Study of Dispossessions: Performative Encounter(s) of Taiwanese Indigenous Contemporary Art

“…The instrumentalisation 1 of the work of non-state actors by governments for the support of diplomacy can be considered effective as it allows avoiding the pejorative association of government communications and activities with propaganda (as highlighted by Rawnsley, 2014). Gienow-Hecht and Donfried's (2010) edited collection evidences this:…”

“…The current DPP government claims a separate identity for Taiwan (distinct from the PRC) and has reframed the national identity narrative away from Taiwan being the preserver of traditional Chinese culture: 'Taiwan is known as a culturally diverse society' (Presidential Office, 2016). This instrumentalisation of Indigeneity for national identity and foreign policy purposes, highlighting the differences between the ROC and the PRC, is important to flag in the eyes of international public opinion as one cannot forget that Taiwan operates in a 'disabling environment' (Rawnsley, 2014), where the forging of alliances in the international community needs to be creatively alternative.…”