方恩格快评》台湾挫败的5月外交结束了

美国没有将台湾列入第一批参与《印太经济架构》的国家。图为美国总统拜登23日于东京公布「印太经济架构」（IPEF）。（图/路透）

尽管一些政界人士和媒体试图反驳，但现实是台湾在5月的外交政策上遭遇重大挫折。

5月分开始有消息称，美国不会向台湾出售M109A6自走砲。韩国新政府没有邀请台湾政府高层代表出席尹锡悦总统的就职典礼。美国-东协峰会的《联合愿景声明》没有提及台海和平，而这种提及在联合声明中越来越普遍，例如在拜登总统会见韩国总统尹锡悦或几天后会见了日本首相岸田文雄，在联合声明中确实提到了朝鲜半岛的和平。

澳大利亚的自由国家联盟在选举中失利，令原本希望自由国家联盟能够连任并保持对中国采取强硬政策的台湾感到失望。台湾以观察员身分出席世界卫生大会(WHA)的努力再次失败，尽管外交部努力对全球支持台湾的政客数量进行积极描述。

美国没有将台湾列入第一批参与《印太经济架构》的国家，这表明其他国家要求美国避免将台湾包括在内。新加坡总理李显龙在东京发表讲话时，警告不要改变台湾海峡的现状，这对台湾和对中国来说都是一个信息。美国国务卿布林肯在最近的对华政策演讲中重申美国不支持台独，可见台湾民众对美国最近的变化感到兴奋是多么愚昧─美国国务院在网站上更新美台关系的「参考资料」(Fact Sheet)。

对台湾政府来说，好消息是这些挫折对台湾的安全或全球形象并不致命。政府也不必担心来自反对党的批评。国民党在国际上的形象很糟糕，也缺乏外交政策，这是国民党在朱立伦主席访问华府之前似乎不愿意或无法解决的问题。而民众党尚未向台湾选民表明它有另一种外交政策愿景。

去年12月，笔者曾评论拜登政府如何对台湾实施「临时限制令」。尽管如此，台湾仍与美国、日本和一些欧洲国家保持着良好的双边关系。台湾不可能在其外交政策目标中实现它想要的一切；换言之，各国把台湾当成一个正常国家，而不是一个值得特殊对待的国家。希望台湾外交部在与美国或其他国家打交道时能牢记这一点，台湾媒体在报导外交政策的得失时也能牢记这一点。

Thankfully May is Over for Taiwan’s Foreign Policy

By Ross Darrell Feingold

Former Asia Chairman Republicans Abroad

Twitter: @RossFeingold

Notwithstanding the attempts by some politicians and media to argue otherwise, the reality is Taiwan had significant foreign policy setbacks in May.

The month of May began with the news that the United States would not sell to Taiwan the M109A6 Paladin 155 mm self-propelled howitzer. The new South Korean government did not invite a high-level representative of Taiwan’s government to attend President Yoon Sook-yuel’s inauguration. The US-Asean summit “joint vision statement” failed to mention peace in the Taiwan Strait, a reference that is increasingly common in joint statements that the United States issues such as after President Biden met South Korea President Yoon Suk-Yeol or after President Biden met Japan Prime Minister Kishida Fumio days later (though the joint vision statement did mention peace on the Korean peninsula). Australia’s Liberal-National coalition lost the election, disappointing Taiwan which had hoped the Liberal-National coalition would be re-elected and maintain increasingly strong policies towards China. Taiwan’s efforts to attend the World Health Assembly as an observer failed again, notwithstanding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs efforts to put a positive spin on the number of politicians worldwide who said something supportive of Taiwan. The United States did not include Taiwan in the first group of countries who will participate in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which indicates other countries demanded the United States avoid including Taiwan. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a speech in Tokyo cautioned against changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, a message to Taiwan as much as it is to China. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his recent speech about China policy reiterated that the United States does not support Taiwan independence, which shows how silly it was for people in Taiwan to get excited over the recent change in the United States – Taiwan “fact sheet” publishes on the State Department’s website.

The good news for Taiwan’s government is that these setbacks are not fatal to Taiwan’s security or global image. The government also does not need to worry about criticism from the opposition political parties. The Kuomintang’s has a terrible international image and lacks a foreign policy, a problem that the Kuomintang seems unwilling, or unable, to resolve prior to Chairman Eric Chu’s visit to Washington DC. The Taiwan People’s Party has yet to demonstrate to Taiwan’s voters that it has an alternative foreign policy vision.

Last December, this authored published a commentary in the China Times that discussed how the Biden Administration had imposed on Taiwan a “temporary restraining order”. Notwithstanding, that, Taiwan still has good bilateral relations with the United States, Japan and some European countries. Taiwan cannot achieve everything it wants in its foreign policy goals; in other words, countries treat Taiwan as a normal country rather than a country that deserves special treatment. Hopefully Taiwan's foreign ministry will keep this in mind when dealing with the United States or other countries, and Taiwan’s media will keep this in mind when reporting on foreign policy successes as well as setbacks.

※以上言论不代表旺中媒体集团立场※