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Foreign Affairs
Excited travelers prepare to depart from Taipei International Airport. As of August 2011, a total of 117 countries and territories have extended visa-free or landing visa privileges to ROC passport holders. (Chen Mei-ling)The ROC is a sovereign state that maintains its own national defense and conducts its own foreign affairs. It currently has full diplomatic relations with 23 countries and substantive ties with many others. It is an active member of 32 intergovernmental organizations (IGO) and their subsidiary bodies, including the World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the Asian Development Bank.
The ROC also has observer or other status in 19 IGOs and their subsidiary bodies, including the World Health Assembly (WHA) of the U.N. World Health Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s nongovernmental organizations (NGO) take part in the activities of over 2,200 international NGOs to reinforce global connections and sustain partnerships.
Although the ROC is still denied participation in numerous key international organizations and has been unable to establish formal diplomatic ties with many nations, it is fully able and committed to fulfilling its obligations to the world community. It cooperates closely with other governments to combat terrorism and crime; strives to act in conformance with international covenants on human rights; and provides technical as well as humanitarian aid to needy countries through various programs funded by its International Cooperation and Development Fund and the private sector.
To increase its maneuvering space in the world community, the ROC has adopted a flexible approach in diplomacy since mid-2008 to broaden its cooperation with world nations and pursue meaningful participation in U.N.-affiliated specialized agencies. This approach also calls for Taipei and Beijing to cease squandering valuable resources on attempts to undermine each other’s diplomatic interests.
The outcome has been encouraging: not only have the U.S., European nations and other major countries backed Taiwan’s participation in the WHA since 2009, many of them have also openly supported Taiwan’s bid to take part in such U.N. organizations as the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Meanwhile, more than 110 countries have accorded visa-free or landing visa privileges to ROC nationals in recognition of the country’s achievements and contributions.
A rescue team from Taiwan heads for a disaster area following the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. (Courtesy of International Headquarters S.A.R., Taiwan)
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