Opportunities and challenges: Taiwan's diplomacy in the globalization era

INTRODUCTION

Good evening! Thank you, Dr. Lin for your generous introduction. First of all, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to all the scholars who have traveled to Taiwan from different corners of the United States. It gives me great pleasure to host this banquet in honor of all the prestigious scholars and experts here tonight, and I hope you enjoy your dinner.

A WORLD PERCEIVED

This conference on the Effect of Globalization in Taiwan and the Third World organized by the National Taiwan University, the Mississippi State University and the Association of Third World Studies is indeed significant. Because when we talk about the era of globalization, we tend to focus on the macro level. Thus, challenges and opportunities facing individual countries at the micro level are often ignored and neglected. Thus it would be instructive for us to look at Taiwan's diplomacy in the era of globalization from Taipei's perspective. From the angles of diplomacy and international relations, I believe globalization has given rise to the following three trends.

The first is a renewed emphasis on democracy and human rights. In the traditional sense of international law, state sovereignty is supreme. However, in the era of globalization, with the increasing recognition of the values of democracy and human rights, if a state fails to implement democracy and safeguard human rights, its paramount sovereignty will be challenged by the international community.

Today, in the wake of the third wave of democratization, 140 countries in the world hold multiparty elections, and democratization has made further progress on all continents. The Laeken Declaration passed by the European Union in December 2001 firmly stipulates that democracy and human rights constitute foundations for membership in the EU. The Union is open only to countries that uphold basic values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In November 2001, the Organization of American States approved the "Inter-American Democratic Charter," which states that all the peoples of the Americas have the right to enjoy democracy, and that all governments on the continent have the obligation to facilitate and safeguard democracy. In Africa, the New Partnership for Africa's Development passed by the Organization of African States, predecessor of the African Union, explicitly recognizes that democracy is a condition for sustainable development.

Throughout the process of development of human rights instruments since the adoption of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, various human rights protection conventions have been approved and the international community has actively adopted supportive measures to promote basic human rights. The number of countries that have ratified the six human rights covenants has greatly increased since 1990. For instance, the number of countries that ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has increased from 90 to around 150.

Secondly, there is a trend towards cooperation. In the era of globalization, in addition to traditional economic and trade matters, many other issues, such as terrorism, environmental protection and conservation, drug trafficking, etc., are seen as surpassing national borders. These issues can only be resolved by concerted international efforts and cooperation.

For example, in the field of security, the international community is paying increasing attention to collective security. There were only 16 peace-keeping missions around the globe between 1946 and 1989. But the United Nations has established 38 peace-keeping missions since 1990. In the area of anti-terrorism cooperation, 208 countries and jurisdictions now support the control of funding of terrorist organizations, 167 countries have ordered the freezing of terrorist assets, and in terms of military action, 17 countries have dispatched over 16,500 troops to take part in the war against terrorism.

Thirdly, there is a trend towards participation. The era of globalization requires more international cooperation, and participation is the precondition for such cooperation. Countries must participate in international cooperation and dialogue, and other members of the world community have to adopt increasingly important roles.

Take the emergence of non-governmental organizations for example. According to the Human Development Report 2002 published by the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) this July, the number of registered international NGOs reached 37,000 in 2000, 20% more than that of 1990, and among them, 2,150 have consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council while 1,550 others have cooperative relations with the UN Department of Public Information. Under the framework of global governance, these NGOs often replace countries in the functions of issue-initiating and problem-solving.

TAIWAN IS READY

Over the past decades, Taiwan has suffered from various setbacks on the diplomatic front, such as the severance of diplomatic ties with the US and departure from the United Nations. Taiwan not only left many inter-governmental organizations, but also suffered in terms of its diplomatic relations with other countries. However, following economic development and democratization, Taiwan started to define anew its position on the world stage. It has since found opportunities to embrace the era of globalization and re-engage with the international community in the following three areas.