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EDITORIAL : The
failings of the foreign ministry
What good is a foreign ministry if it cannot defend a nation’s name and dignity
when the need arises? Sadly, this appears to be a recurring situation in Taiwan.
Despite a protest lodged by the Government Information Office about two weeks
ago, the Taiwanese public was yesterday treated to the news that the
Taiwan-produced epic Seediq Bale (賽德克巴萊) is still labeled as a film made in
“China, Taiwan” on the Venice Film Festival’s Web site.
The film’s director, Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖), was quoted by local media as saying
that he was at one point asked by foreign ministry officials what he felt the
bottom line on the matter was.
“I am just a movie maker,” Wei said dejectedly. “Why are we the ones who need to
define a stance on the matter?”
One can’t blame Wei for feeling demoralized. After all, just as it is natural to
expect athletes to perform at their best and represent their country with honor
at an international sports competition, it is natural to expect film directors
to do their utmost to deliver to the world high-quality movies that would do
their nation proud.
Isn’t it also natural to expect a nation’s foreign affairs officials to do their
job, namely defend and safeguard their country’s name and dignity?
As Wei successfully lives up to all that is expected of him as a movie maker and
more, delivering quality films and having been nominated for the Golden Lion
award, why can’t the nation’s foreign affairs officials do their job, namely
fight for the country’s name, not quiz Wei on what he feels the “bottom line”
should be? To say that Taiwanese are shocked by the seeming incompetence of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is an understatement.
The lassitude of the ministry, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
government as a whole, is truly disheartening.
The ministry’s ineptitude brings to mind an incident in March 2009 in which
Yushan was labeled as being “Chinese Taipei” in an online competition to find
the “seven natural wonders” of the world.
More than two years have passed and today Yushan remains a wonder of “Chinese
Taipei,” according to the New7Wonders Foundation’s Web site. So much for
Taiwan’s stunning natural beauty and so much for the hard work of the nation’s
people when as a result of the government’s incompetence and stupor, Taiwan is
so easily dismissed from the world map so that China can step in and take the
credit.
The ministry on Tuesday gathered in Taipei the 81 heads of Taiwan’s overseas
diplomatic missions and representative offices and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)
trumpeted how his “flexible diplomacy” has borne fruit these past three years.
However, judging Ma’s words in the context of the Seediq Bale and Yushan
incidents, Ma cannot possibly be suggesting that the ministry’s officials have
done a good enough job in their service of the nation.
The point of having a foreign ministry and training foreign affairs officials is
enabling them to defend and promote the nation’s existence and dignity.
We all know it is tough for the nation’s foreign affairs officials to fight the
reality in which more often than not international organizations must yield to
China’s bullying, but it is even more disheartening to see Taiwan’s own top
decisionmakers seemingly not bothered by incidents that so deeply affect
Taiwanese.
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