时论广场》救援土耳其震灾 别当外交突破宣传（方恩格 Ross Darrell Feingold）

与台湾搜救队合作救援的搜救队，就是23年前来台支援921的AKUT搜救队，双方对于救出生还者感到振奋不已。（消防署提供）

上周一，土耳其东南部地区和叙利亚北部地区发生毁灭性的强烈地震后，国际社会迅速动员起来，派遣救援队和提供及时援助。许多国家都以派出人员、资金援助或物资救援等方式伸出援手，台湾作为富裕国家和国际社会负责任的一员，也有义务参与其中。台湾多次参与此类的救助活动，包括对萨尔瓦多、伊朗、印尼、中国大陆和海地等地区。

然而，台湾对土耳其─叙利亚地震的反应有几个方面让笔者感到失望。

首先，在地震发生后的几个小时内，台湾政府宣布将捐款20万美元。目前还不清楚为什么台湾在灾难范围尚未确定的时候宣布了一笔小额捐款。无论是缺乏态势感知意识，还是想迅速获得对台湾的正面新闻报导，这个宣布都嫌仓促。

幸运的是，捐款后来增加到200万美元，虽然相对而言还是比较少的。例如，韩国三星电子宣布捐赠150万美元现金和150万美元物资。如果台湾政府的财政资源限制在200万美元的捐款，那么政府机构针对国际社会的英文推文，可能就没有必要包括美元金额。

可能是意识到台湾的捐款较少，总统蔡英文、副总统赖清德、行政院长陈建仁随后各捐出一个月的薪水用于救灾，土耳其媒体说这深具意义，台湾媒随即大肆报导，似乎反应过度。

第二，台湾的外交部多次针对搜救队机场送行发文。第一条推文是外交部长吴钊燮和内政部长林右昌，第二条推文是陈建仁院长和吴钊燮部长。

大陆官方媒体也报导了其搜救队前往土耳其机场送行的消息。当台湾政府官员和大陆政府官员有相似的公关策略时，肯定有问题。在救难队抵达土耳其后不久，蔡总统和林右昌与搜救队举行了视讯会议。难怪台湾有人批评这是不必要的宣传噱头。

第三，台湾搜救队登上联合国官网，内政部消防署宣布「突破」。一个联合国网站列出了在土耳其的搜救队所在的国家／地区，对于台湾搜救队描述为「台湾台北」。消防署却宣布这是一个「重大突破」。如果描述为「台湾」，就像描述其他国家名称一样，也许会是一个很大的突破，但加上「台北」显然是为了表明台湾不是一个国家。消防署有什么好高兴的？

类似反应发生在BBC将台湾列入援土国家名单后，有台媒称这是一个突破。不过，很多国际媒体都将台湾称为一个国家，BBC的报导也算不上什么突破口。

台湾政府积极宣传台湾对土耳其和叙利亚的援助，这无可厚非。但负责宣传的人应该牢记这是悲剧的发生，在宣传上更加谨慎。此外，台湾的政府和民进党在即将到来的总统和立委选举中，将强调外交政策的成功，并试图寻求更多的外交政策「突破」。然而，在去年11月的地方选举中，类似的选民兜售外交成功的策略是失败的。

最后，欧盟委员会宣布将于3月为土耳其和叙利亚举办一次国际捐助者会议。外交部总喜欢说，欧盟印太合作战略强调台湾作为理念相近伙伴的角色。这是否意味着欧盟委员会将允许台湾政府参加？可能不会，正如欧盟委员会所说，这次会议是为「欧盟成员国、邻国、联合国成员国、国际金融机构和其他利益相关者」举办的。

台湾对土耳其和叙利亚的援助值得钦佩，但这还不是外交政策的突破。

（作者为美国共和党前亚太区主席）

全文版：

Taiwan’s Aid to Türkiye Should be Applauded, But Not Overly Marketed

By Ross Darrell Feingold

Former Asia Chairman, Republicans Abroad

Twitter: @RossFeingold

The international community has quickly mobilized to send rescue teams and aid after the devastating earthquakes in the south-eastern region of Türkiye and northern region of Syria last Monday. Many countries have sent personnel or financial aid and supplies, and as a wealthy country and responsible member of the international community, it is Taiwan’s obligation to join these efforts too. Taiwan has joined such efforts many times, including in El Salvador, Iran, Indonesia, mainland China, and Haiti.

However, several aspects of Taiwan’s response to the Türkiye-Syria earthquake disappointed this author.

First, in the hours immediately after the earthquake, the Taiwan government announced it will donate USD200,000. It’s unclear why Taiwan announced a small donation at a time when the scope of the disaster had yet to be determined. Whether it is a lack of situational awareness, or a desire to quickly obtain positive news coverage for Taiwan, the announcement was rushed.

Fortunately, the donation was later increased to USD2,000,000, though this is still relatively small. For example, Korea’s Samsung Electronics announced a donation of USD1,500,000 in cash and USD1,500,000 in goods. If the financial resources of Taiwan’s government limit it to a USD2,000,000 donation, it’s probably unnecessary to include the dollar amount in English language tweets by government agencies that are directed at the global community.

Perhaps recognizing that Taiwan’s donation is relatively small, President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice President William Lai, and Premier Chen Chien-jen then each donated one month’s salary to relief efforts, which Taiwan media then reported as having significant coverage in Türkiye media.

Second, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted multiple times about airport send-offs for the search and rescue teams. The first tweet showed Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu and the Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang, and the second tweet showed Premier Chen and Minister Wu.

The mainland’s state media also had reports about the airport send-off of its search and rescue team departing for Türkiye. When Taiwan government officials and mainland government officials have similar public relations strategies, something must be wrong.

President Tsai and Minister of the Interior Lin then held a video conference with the search and rescue team shortly after it arrived in Türkiye. It is no surprise that some in Taiwan criticized this as being an unnecessary publicity stunt.

Third is the Ministry of the Interior National Fire Agency’s desire to announce a “breakthrough”. A United Nations website lists the home country of the search and rescue teams that are in Türkiye. For the Taiwan search and rescue team, the description is “Taipei, Taiwan”. The National Fire Agency proclaimed this is a big breakthrough. Perhaps it would be a big breakthrough if the description was “Taiwan” just like the other descriptions are only the name of the country. However, adding “Taipei” is clearly for purposes of showing Taiwan is not a country. What is the National Fire Agency so happy about?

A similar reaction occurred when the BBC included Taiwan on a list of countries sending aid to Türkiye, and some Taiwan media reported this is a breakthrough. However, many international media refer to Taiwan as a country, thus, the BBC report is not a breakthrough either.

It is understandable that the Taiwan government seeks positive publicity for the aid Taiwan provides to Türkiye and Syria. But those responsible for the publicity should keep in mind that a tragedy occurred and be more careful in their publicity efforts. In addition, during the upcoming presidential and legislative election campaigns the Taiwan government and Democratic Progressive Party will emphasize their foreign policy successes, and try to seek more foreign policy “breakthroughs”. However, a similar strategy to sell foreign relations success to voters in last November’s local election failed.

Finally, the European Commission has announced that in March, it will host an international donor conference for Türkiye and Syria. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs likes to note that the European Commission’s Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific stresses Taiwan's role as a responsible partner. Does that mean the European Commission will allow the Taiwan government to attend? Probably not, as the European Commission says the conference is for “EU Member States, neighboring countries, United Nations members, international financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders”.

Taiwan’s aid to Türkiye and Syria is admirable, but not it’s not yet a foreign policy breakthrough.