'Flexible diplomacy' helps improve Taiwan's image in Pacific

If he needed validation of the strategy, he may have found it during a recent visit to Taiwan's six allies in the South Pacific, where Taiwan and China have long engaged in a diplomatic tug-of-war for the loyalty of allies.

The shift in Australia's attitude toward Taiwan seen prior to and during the trip provides a telling example of how Taiwan's new diplomatic strategy has earned it positive international recognition.

Canberra has abhorred the corrupt practices engendered by the fight for allies between Taiwan and China, and it was on edge whenever the Solomon Islands, one of the main battlegrounds of the two diplomatic combatants, held parliamentary elections.

Feeling obliged to prevent Taiwan and China from interfering in the elections through unethical means, Canberra would even send senior officials to the Solomon Islands to monitor the situation closely.

When Ma visited Australia four years ago in his capacity as chairman of the then-opposition Kuomintang, he felt humiliated, as Australian officials tended to show contempt whenever they mentioned Taiwan.

That experience helped spawn the concept of flexible diplomacy -- which the administration describes as a "modus vivendi" approach -- and Ma vowed to change Australia's views on Taiwan should he win the presidency.

"One should not do anything illegitimate or improper if one wants to win others' respect," Ma believed.

Australia's new attitude was on display during Ma's trip to the Solomon Islands, where he was able to freely enter the headquarters of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) to listen to briefings on the key functions of the organization, which is led by Australia and New Zealand.

Ma also won the praise of Australian media, including in an article by the Australian headlined, "Taiwan purges Pacific island graft."

So it was hard for others to imagine the ridicule Ma has endured in promoting his "flexible diplomacy" and the idea of a "diplomatic truce" with China.

Critics mocked the strategy as a "diplomatic shock" and a "diplomatic holiday" and argued that it left the country's relations with its 23 diplomatic allies dependent on charity from China.

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