On the 5th of March SGMUN welcomed Dr. David Huang, the Representative of Taiwan to Switzerland, to have a discussion about his work in diplomacy, challenges and the future in and around the island. Throughout an engaging presentation and subsequent Q&A, students learnt of the geopolitical and economic situation of the region and the myriad challenges faced by Dr. Huang as a representative of Taiwan.
Presentation
Dr. Huang began his presentation by providing the students with an insight into Taiwan itself. He spoke of its geography, its economy and its people, with the first two being very similar, in broad terms, to that of Switzerland. Despite this link and the economic complementarity of both lands, it was made clear there wasn’t a large trade flow in either direction. That being said, Dr. Huang emphasised the shared belief in the rules based order. This became apparent when discussing how the international community considers the status of Taiwan within the United Nations. He stated that whilst the diplomatic recognition of a state is a political decision, the only criteria of the Montevideo Convention which Taiwan doesn’t meet, the UN has no legal basis to dictate the territories of states. To close, Dr. Huang touched on the centrality of technology to the future of developed economies and of military conflict. Taiwan’s advanced semiconductor industry, with TSMC at its head, will be of great importance to this. However challenges abound, the latest taking the form of tariffs from the United States of America under President Trump. He stated that TSMC seems to consider these measures as real threats, and so have committed to building new factories in the USA. The adverse effects of which is the erosion of Taiwan’s “chip shield”, in his own words: “If countries no longer cared for Taiwan’s chips, then no country would care for Taiwan.”
Q&A Session
How does your situation as a representative of Taiwan, compare to that of any other country’s diplomat when interacting with the Swiss government?
Switzerland’s One China policy doesn't stop the interaction between representatives and the government, communication is simply based on specific agreements. However it does limit the access to state machinery and puts a stop to most join formal aspects. The Swiss government has a very cautious policy towards interaction with Taiwan and so can be reluctant to move forward with certain projects, like a scientific-technology agreement.
How do you foresee the relationship between Taiwan and the USA developing during President Trump’s term in office?
As a representative of Taiwan, Dr. Huang stated that Taiwan is very grateful and appreciative of America’s support today and in days past, specifically mentioning the role of the US Seventh Fleet. Whilst he understands that President Trump has different views over the war in Ukraine, Dr. Huang hopes that the presidents policies will reflect the immense bipartisan support within the American Congress and his own cabinet. Additionally, he believes that the current disagreements over chip manufacturing and Taiwanese defence spending can be resolved, especially by increasing the military budget.
What is the stance of Taiwan’s neighbouring countries?
All adhere to the One China policy as they don’t want to take sides. However most are part of the First Island chain and are thus concerned of the security environment. This is especially the case fo Japan as if Taiwan falls then Okinawa will be placed under extreme threat. Dr. Huang considers Australia to be its most supportive in the case of conflict due to its close links the US. In general, whilst the neighbouring countries may not directly care about Taiwan, their own national security concerns pushes them to support Taiwan.
What countries don't follow a One China policy?
To start a clear distinction needs to be made between the One China policy and the One China principle. The former is a political policy of not recognising Taiwan as a state, but also not recognising it as a part of China, with any disputes requiring a peaceful resolution. The language is important here as those who follow the policy never state “peaceful unification”, as this would imply that a single China exists. Different countries have different types of One China policies, but all still allows for interaction. For example, Switzerland sees the interactions between representatives of Taiwan and Swiss government officials as technical in nature and not political or diplomatic.
The principle on the other hand, recognises that there is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is a part of China. The adherence to this would mean that any interaction Taiwanese officials would require permission from China.
Which country is Taiwan’s largest trading partner and what is their position towards Taiwan?
China is Taiwan’s largest trade partner, placing Taiwan in a similar to position to that of Switzerland and the EU. However, this trade, comprising mainly of components, was born from around 200 billion USD in investment from Taiwan into China between 1990 and 2020. Several major Taiwanese companies found the Chinese market to be incredibly lucrative and easy to break into and develop, principally due to cultural and linguistic similarities. This presence in China persists to this day and has created the situation where Taiwan actually runs a trade surplus with China, a rarity in this age. Additionally, Taiwanese companies are well placed to aid foreign companies to break into the Chinese market, thanks primarily to the similarities mentioned above and to strong investment protection laws. However, due to the trade war between China and the US, this surplus is slowly reducing. As a parting comment to this question, he emphasised the importance of understanding how each power views the economy. In China, you must use the economy to encircle politics, power is money and money is power. In opposition to this, Taiwan prefers not to link the two, leaving the economy mainly to the market.
Is TikTok a threat to the democracy of Taiwan?
To begin, a clarification between which type of TikTok is being discussed should be made. When speaking of TikTok in Taiwan, it is the Chinese one, where the government has direct control of the algorithm. This is opposed to the one used in America, which has been separated from its owner company Bytedance.
TikTok gives a very limited image of a series of events, this leads to misconceptions and doesn’t give you the whole story. Additionally, a lot of misinformation is actively push by accounts linked to the People’s Liberation Army and other military branches. Examples range from the USA not being a trustworthy ally to an evacuation plan for Taiwanese leadership in case of war. The algorithm is a constantly pushes pro-Chinese narratives and censors certain ideas which wouldn’t benefit Beijing. There are two main reasons why the Taiwanese government doesn’t act as the USA has. The first is because the opposition party refuses to block TikTok due to freedom of speech reasons. The second is that China has threatened to invade if major internal quarrel were to develop on the island. This “quarrel” includes the silencing of Chinese voices and opinions, therefore the blocking of TikTok could be used as an excuse to launch an invasion.
Comments