方恩格快評》臺灣挫敗的5月外交結束了

美國沒有將臺灣列入第一批參與《印太經濟架構》的國家。圖爲美國總統拜登23日於東京公佈「印太經濟架構」（IPEF）。（圖/路透）

儘管一些政界人士和媒體試圖反駁，但現實是臺灣在5月的外交政策上遭遇重大挫折。

5月分開始有消息稱，美國不會向臺灣出售M109A6自走砲。韓國新政府沒有邀請臺灣政府高層代表出席尹錫悅總統的就職典禮。美國-東協峰會的《聯合願景聲明》沒有提及臺海和平，而這種提及在聯合聲明中越來越普遍，例如在拜登總統會見韓國總統尹錫悅或幾天後會見了日本首相岸田文雄，在聯合聲明中確實提到了朝鮮半島的和平。

澳大利亞的自由國家聯盟在選舉中失利，令原本希望自由國家聯盟能夠連任並保持對中國採取強硬政策的臺灣感到失望。臺灣以觀察員身分出席世界衛生大會(WHA)的努力再次失敗，儘管外交部努力對全球支持臺灣的政客數量進行積極描述。

美國沒有將臺灣列入第一批參與《印太經濟架構》的國家，這表明其他國家要求美國避免將臺灣包括在內。新加坡總理李顯龍在東京發表講話時，警告不要改變臺灣海峽的現狀，這對臺灣和對中國來說都是一個信息。美國國務卿布林肯在最近的對華政策演講中重申美國不支持臺獨，可見臺灣民衆對美國最近的變化感到興奮是多麼愚昧─美國國務院在網站上更新美臺關係的「參考資料」(Fact Sheet)。

對臺灣政府來說，好消息是這些挫折對臺灣的安全或全球形象並不致命。政府也不必擔心來自反對黨的批評。國民黨在國際上的形象很糟糕，也缺乏外交政策，這是國民黨在朱立倫主席訪問華府之前似乎不願意或無法解決的問題。而民衆黨尚未向臺灣選民表明它有另一種外交政策願景。

去年12月，筆者曾評論拜登政府如何對臺灣實施「臨時限制令」。儘管如此，臺灣仍與美國、日本和一些歐洲國家保持着良好的雙邊關係。臺灣不可能在其外交政策目標中實現它想要的一切；換言之，各國把臺灣當成一個正常國家，而不是一個值得特殊對待的國家。希望臺灣外交部在與美國或其他國家打交道時能牢記這一點，臺灣媒體在報導外交政策的得失時也能牢記這一點。

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.

※以上言論不代表旺中媒體集團立場※