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Cross-strait relations being tested in devastated Haiti
STAFF WRITER WITH AP, BEIJING
Monday, Jan 18, 2010, Page 3
One of the world’s trickiest relationships is being tested in devastated Haiti,
where China and Taiwan are rushing aid to one of Taipei’s few remaining
diplomatic allies.
China has previously used aid to try to persuade countries to end relations with
Taipei, while Taiwan has used financial support to try to keep the few small,
mostly impoverished nations that recognize it.
While the aid to Haiti comes with large Chinese flags on display, analysts say
it has no apparent strings attached, attributing that to recent cross-strait
developments and China’s settling into its role as a global power and the
responsibilities that come with it.
“What’s really interesting here is that China is apparently providing Haiti with
assistance without making any demands regarding Haiti’s relationship with
Taiwan,” said Taiwan academic Shelley Rigger of North Carolina’s Davidson
College.
A cargo plane left Beijing on Saturday carrying US$2 million of China’s promised
US$4.2 million in aid for the quake-hit island, with which it has no diplomatic
ties.
Instead of tussling with Taiwan, China probably sees the quake as a chance to
project its “soft power” to a wider audience, China expert Steve Tsang of Oxford
University said.
“From Beijing’s perspective, it is desirable not to be overshadowed by Taiwan’s
rescue efforts, and relatively easy and inexpensive to play a positive
humanitarian role in the, as it were, backyard of the USA,” Tsang said.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is one of 23 nations that
recognize Taiwan. Taiwan has so far pledged US$5.5 million.
China has used aid in the past to try and pressure Haiti to break its ties with
Taipei, Rigger said. When China sent UN peacekeepers to Haiti in 2004, many
assumed part of that mission was to court Haiti to recognize Beijing.
China’s approach this time may have to do with the relations with Taiwan since
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008 with the aim of toning down
the hostile relations between Beijing and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
One of China’s major victories when Chen was president was convincing longtime
Taipei ally Costa Rica to switch sides.
Since Ma came to power in May 2008, he has promoted what he calls a “diplomatic
truce,” putting the wrestling over diplomatic ties aside.
It is also possible China’s rapid and visible response to the Haiti disaster may
be far more simple — Beijing is recognizing that “politicizing this horrific
tragedy would be wrong at every level,” Rigger said.
China is still raw from the earthquake in Sichuan Province in May 2008, which
left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday said the aid was not political.
“When China suffered from the Sichuan earthquake, other countries offered aid.
Now we can help,” she said.
She didn’t give her name, citing ministry policy.
“China is a big country and it is shouldering its humanitarian
responsibilities,” said Shi Yinhong (石印紅), a professor of international
relations at People’s University in Beijing. “Among ordinary Chinese, no one
talks about whether we have diplomatic ties with Haiti when talking about the
aid.”
Still, it might be too soon to determine China’s intentions in Haiti, one
Taiwan-based expert warned.
“They have no incentives to launch a diplomatic war for now, but we have to
watch after the situation stabilizes,” said Kan Yi-hua (甘逸驊), a professor of
diplomacy at National Chengchi University.
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