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Recently in September, Taiwanese Foreign Minister, David Lin has announced that Taiwan would maintain communication with relevant nations and non-government organizations to help with the refugee crisis in Europe. The huge influx of refugee are mainly from the Syria, especially after ISIS entered into the Syrian Civil War in 2012. The UNHCR estimated more than 366,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean Sea this year, and more are coming. One of the main motivations for Taiwan to be helping out is to increase their foreign policy, a type of soft power. I agree that this attempt could possibly raise more soft power, when compared to China's own soft power. However, it wouldn't immediantly allow Taiwan to be officially recognized as a country.
Taiwan is relatively weak in soft power. Which is why the Foreign Minister of Taiwan would like to help out, so they can build a better image of Taiwan, therefore increasing soft power. One of the main reasons of why Taiwan has a relatively weak soft power, is because that Taiwan does not invest that much into foreign policies or cultural influences. Taiwan's foreign relations is waning, as the country only has 22 countries recognizing Taiwan as the legitimate representative of "China". Over the past few years, Taiwan has been building several successful brands such as Gaint, Din Tai Fung, and HTC corporation. The country has been slowly moving into entertainment industries, such as the success of Taiwanese directors Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-Liang.
While Taiwan has been flourishing, China has been weak in soft power. Recent contraversies in China arose when the government suspended Confucius Institutes in some countries in the US, and tearing out "offending" pages in an academic conference in Portugual has further weakend the country's political values. The human rights abuses in China, such as the crackdown among strike workers who worked on the 2008 Summer Olympics arena, and the country's high rate of censorship do not help with China's soft power. Which is why in contrast, Taiwan would probably be more likely to increase their soft power.
Taiwan has previously been accepting foreigners to the country, so they can learn to understand its culture. A huge program Taiwan has implemented to solidify its soft power is a Study Camp that is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The program specifically focuses on giving these foreigners VIP treatments, airfare and hotel accomdation, food and cultural activities. The attendees are mainly focused toward journalists, academic staffs, and future leaders that have little knowledge of Taiwan, and are given lectures for 8-10 days on an into of Taiwan. The camp also increases their political values since the attendees are also able to meet high profiled politicains, including the president himself. These camps may lead them to reconsider the role of Taiwan in their own analysis of global politics.
With such efforts being made in Taiwan, and with previous successful outcomes, Taiwan would be capable to increase their soft power by providing the humanitarian aid to Europe. It has previously provided the most monetary and humanitarian aid to Japan during the 3/11 earthquake. The result was the increase foreign relations with Taiwan. With a similar effort being made, it would be possible for Taiwan to restablish foreign relations with other countries.
Taiwan is relatively weak in soft power. Which is why the Foreign Minister of Taiwan would like to help out, so they can build a better image of Taiwan, therefore increasing soft power. One of the main reasons of why Taiwan has a relatively weak soft power, is because that Taiwan does not invest that much into foreign policies or cultural influences. Taiwan's foreign relations is waning, as the country only has 22 countries recognizing Taiwan as the legitimate representative of "China". Over the past few years, Taiwan has been building several successful brands such as Gaint, Din Tai Fung, and HTC corporation. The country has been slowly moving into entertainment industries, such as the success of Taiwanese directors Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-Liang.
While Taiwan has been flourishing, China has been weak in soft power. Recent contraversies in China arose when the government suspended Confucius Institutes in some countries in the US, and tearing out "offending" pages in an academic conference in Portugual has further weakend the country's political values. The human rights abuses in China, such as the crackdown among strike workers who worked on the 2008 Summer Olympics arena, and the country's high rate of censorship do not help with China's soft power. Which is why in contrast, Taiwan would probably be more likely to increase their soft power.
Taiwan has previously been accepting foreigners to the country, so they can learn to understand its culture. A huge program Taiwan has implemented to solidify its soft power is a Study Camp that is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The program specifically focuses on giving these foreigners VIP treatments, airfare and hotel accomdation, food and cultural activities. The attendees are mainly focused toward journalists, academic staffs, and future leaders that have little knowledge of Taiwan, and are given lectures for 8-10 days on an into of Taiwan. The camp also increases their political values since the attendees are also able to meet high profiled politicains, including the president himself. These camps may lead them to reconsider the role of Taiwan in their own analysis of global politics.
With such efforts being made in Taiwan, and with previous successful outcomes, Taiwan would be capable to increase their soft power by providing the humanitarian aid to Europe. It has previously provided the most monetary and humanitarian aid to Japan during the 3/11 earthquake. The result was the increase foreign relations with Taiwan. With a similar effort being made, it would be possible for Taiwan to restablish foreign relations with other countries.