Taiwan''s Diplomacy Towards Former Yugoslavia And Its Successor States

• Main Authors: Saša Istenič, 薩學東
• Other Authors: Lin Wen-cheng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/w6yqvf

博士 === 國立中山大學 === 中國與亞太區域研究所 === 97 === Taiwan''s complex informal diplomatic practices and the forces behind them have brought both successes and failures in Taiwan''s relations with former Yugoslavia and its successor states. In order to better comprehend and adequately explain the foreign policy outputs, the study has systematically examined external and internal influences that have shaped Taipei''s foreign policy by employing four basic levels of analysis – the system, the state, the societal and the individual level. The study has argued that while both, internal and external factors have shaped Taiwan''s relations, the China factor in particular has posed the major source of external systemic influence that has affected Taiwan''s diplomatic endeavors in the post-Yugoslav region. To circumvent the China-imposed international isolation and the system that refuses to recognize its legitimacy, Taiwan has utilized informal diplomacy to advance its national interests. Although systemic level may best explain Taiwan''s diplomatic behavior, governmental, societal and individual levels also present relevant dimensions of explanation. Taiwan''s diplomatic offensive and the pattern of its approaches towards the former Yugoslav region in general, have caught public attention upon Taiwan''s diplomatic breakthrough with Macedonia in January 1999. The study has revealed that among the multi-track diplomatic strategies it employed in its foreign policy, Taipei mainly resorted to economic diplomacy, primarily in the form of trade as well as in the form of economic aid in order to establish closer – preferably diplomatic or, at least, semi-official ‘substantive’ – relations with the post-Yugoslav nations. Despite its short triumph with Macedonia, Taiwanese diplomacy failed to accomplish its objectives in post-Yugoslav states. Nevertheless, saying that does not imply that it has been unsuccessful.