Taiwan's diplomatic revival

[Discordant Resonance]

While the Republic of China remains, officially, a diplomatic pariah, recent initiatives within Central Europe have slightly eased their international isolation. Firstly, a Czech delegation of mayors and the Senate leader visited the island last year, and earlier this summer, Lithuania provoked the ire of Beijing when recognising the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius, rather than the "Communists" preferred title of Taipei. Ironically, the controversy served to greatly increase Lithuanian exports to Taiwan, and now the European Parliament has approved a motion seeking to strengthen ties with the regime. Of course, no official diplomatic recognition is possible while Taipei itself adheres to a "One China" policy, but countries will use the manoeuvre as leverage against their commercial dependence on Beijing.

[anton pulisov]

Who knows how many lives would have been saved if Taiwan was in the World Health Organisation.