Abstract: This chapter introduces readers to the book. It first elucidates a belief shared by all of its authors concerning Taiwan's exceptionalism in two areas – external and internal affairs. Second, it looks at the literature on the unique situation of Taiwan in the landscape of international affairs and its consequences for the island, with particular attention to the state of research on this topic in Poland. Finally, it presents the structure and content of this volume.

Keywords: Taiwan, China, international recognition, international status, sovereignty, South China Sea, UNCLOS, United States, cross-Strait relations, soft power, diplomacy, democratization, Sunflower Movement, civil society, indigenous tourism, sustainable tourism, ecotourism, environmental awareness

Introduction

Take a look at the political map of the world and you will see that almost every piece of land belongs to a state. This division – in contrast, for example to the split created by a valley between two mountains – is man-made, imaginary and arbitrary, and therefore can be easily questioned. Indeed, in addition to the multiple disputed borders that permeate the world map, some countries are not recognized or partially recognized. Other states decide whether a certain political unit can be recognized as sovereign. Again, even though their decision concerns imaginary divisions created by borders, accepting or rejecting them has far-reaching consequences in real life. The unrecognized country remains excluded from a club of sovereign states, which makes cooperation with its members very difficult or even impossible. It has no choice but to invent novel ways to conduct external relations. Moreover, this specific international situation has a major impact on its politics, people's lifestyles, culture, etc.

This book is about such an exceptional entity in the international community of states – Taiwan. Taiwan is a small island that covers an area of 35,883 km2 and lies nearly 180 km off the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait. Its surface is approximately 395 km long from north to south and 145 km across at its widest point. Its landscapes are captivating. No wonder the Portuguese sailor navigating towards Japan in 1542 called this land Ilha Formosa – “beautiful island.”

Abstract: Taiwan's external relations are ‘exceptional.’ Due to the island's contested international status and limited recognition, public diplomacy often provides Taipei with the only channel to conduct external affairs through the soft-power resources it enables. Therefore, in order to assess the island's foreign policies, it is crucial to understand its soft power capacity.

This chapter analyzes the challenges to the exercise of Taiwan's soft power as well as its effects in selected Polish dailies. First, it looks for themes that may enable and disable Taiwan's soft power in the scholarly literature and documents released by Taipei's govermental actors. Second, it examines whether these themes pertaining to the island were present in two Polish dailies – “Gazeta Wyborcza” and “Rzeczpospolita” – during a one-year period from November 1, 2016 to October 31, 2017. The newspaper analysis aims to reveal narratives that are alternative to those promoted publicly and that are related to the image of Taiwan, other significant international actors, and Taiwanese governmental as well as non-state executors of public policy, all of which may contribute to an enabling or disabling environment for Taipei's soft power. It applies techniques and methods from media research and discourse analysis.

Keywords: public diplomacy, soft power, Taiwan diplomacy, newspaper analysis

Introduction

Taiwanese diplomacy is ‘exceptional’ due to the island's contested international status. Taiwan is not recognized by the majority of the states of the world and, for this reason, its international space is severely limited. Currently, it enjoys formal diplomatic relations with only 14 countries and the Holy See and cannot become a member of the foremost international organizations, particularly those where statehood is a prerequisite. As a consequence, Taipei's politicians and administrations responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs must show a great deal of ingenuity to utilize the traditional diplomatic tools of sovereign states, such as propaganda or diplomatic and economic statecraft. One must admit that Taipei has been very creative in its diplomatic endeavors by inventing “pragmatic diplomacy,” “dollar diplomacy,” “holiday diplomacy,” “academic diplomacy,” “flexible diplomacy,” “substantive diplomacy,” “medical diplomacy,” “viable diplomacy,” etc.