Sorry, I don’t know if this should go in International Relations or taiwan Politics. But:
Dominica Switches Relations to China
ROSEAU, Dominica - The island of Dominica switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China on Monday, after the communist state offered a $112 million aid package.
Taiwan responded hours later by breaking ties with the Caribbean nation.
In a radio address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called Dominica’s policy toward Taiwan unrealistic.
Wonder if changing the name from Republic of China to Taiwan would help? Probably not as most of the countries in the world are just too afraid of the Big Red China or they want to sell their widgets there. Would just take one brave powerful country to turn the tide. Hoping for Japan, the UK or the USA. Germany and France would never…
The thing is, I don’t think he’s wrong. If it’s foreign aid/investment one wants, CHina’s economic clout is fast becoming as strong as Taiwan’s. On the other hand, if you’re looking at it from an ethical standpoint and are wondering which side best represents China - again, it’s no contest. The PRC is China, for better or for worse. Taiwan needs to be Taiwan. It can’t be China.
The thing is, I don’t think he’s wrong. If it’s foreign aid/investment one wants, China’s economic clout is fast becoming as strong as Taiwan’s. On the other hand, if you’re looking at it from an ethical standpoint and are wondering which side best represents China - again, it’s no contest. The PRC is China, for better or for worse. Taiwan needs to be Taiwan. It can’t be China.[/quote]
I disagree. The PRC spends money on international development, yet they neglect their own people outside of their prosperous mega-cities. Look at all the World Bank and NGO projects in Yunnan province etc. Whether its agricultural diversification, the building of irrigations systems, or HIV prevention(very important if anyone here has been to Ruili in Yunnan), international organizations are doing most of the grassroots work, not the PRC. The local organizations in the PRC would need three specialists to put in a light bulb. Basically, the PRC will give money to Dominica, but they shouldn’t expect any real assistance to accompany this one time allocation. I wouldn’t trust PRC technological skills in international development, when they can’t adequately provide assistance to their own rural poor.
I don’t think it’s worth spending a cent of taxpayers’ money to keep such countries on Taiwan’s side. If they want to stick with Taiwan for ideological or other sound reasons, then Taiwan should respond as positively as it is able to by offering them whatever trade privileges, technological assistance, aid, and other rewards it can afford. Otherwise, it’s pointless engaging in a contest with China to buy them off, as Taiwan can hardly expect to come out as the ultimate winner and all the money poured into doing so will more than likely just end up going down the drain.
It would be better to have no diplomatic allies at all than only those whose temporary allegiance is secured by nothing more than the crossing of palms with gold.
Check the following press release from just one week ago:
[quote]As of March 23, the governments or prominent political figures of the following 36 nations have congratulated President Chen on his reelection:
Panama; Paraguay; Dominican Republic ; Grenada; [color=red]Commonwealth of Dominica[/color]; Saint Vincent and The Grenadines; Belize; Guatemala; El Salvador; Chad; Senegal; Swaziland; Gambia; Sao Tome and Principe; Malawi; Solomon Islands; Palau; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Tuvalu; Japan, Korea; Bangladesh; Fiji; Australia; Thailand, United Kingdom; Italy, Netherlands; Germany; Hungary; Canada; Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Jordan and Argentina.
Excerpted from Press Release #072 of the Foreign Affairs Ministry[/quote]
Evidently, such congratulations don’t count for much. Besides, one asks oneself who exactly counts as a “prominent political figure,” and just how many of the congratulations were actually made by governments, and how many by those unnamed “prominent political figures.”
How can Saudi Arabia congratulate Chen on winning the election when every goddamn Saudi politiican is too corrupt, evil, and stupd to even know what an election is?
Al Qaeda could run a more just government than the Saud family…lol
[quote=“Juba”][quote]Panama; Paraguay; [color=red]Dominican Republic[/color] ; Grenada; Commonwealth of Dominica; Saint Vincent and The Grenadines; Belize; Guatemala; El Salvador; Chad; Senegal; Swaziland; Gambia; Sao Tome and Principe; Malawi; Solomon Islands; Palau; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Tuvalu; Japan, Korea; Bangladesh; Fiji; Australia; Thailand, United Kingdom; Italy, Netherlands; Germany; Hungary; Canada; Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Jordan and Argentina.
[/quote][/quote]
Actually, we’re discussing Dominica, not the Dominican Republic (which is a different nation) – though both are on the list of countries extending congratulations.
Yes, you’re quite right Cranky. I highlighted the wrong country. Now I’ve corrected it. Not entirely my fault - it was the Taiwanese TV news that said it was the Domincan Republic.