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Chapter 5 Conclusion
Taiwan’s status, or lack of it, internationally has not only had consequences for its own, but on other smaller developing nations. Current Latin American, Pacific and African allies take the role or bargain chips in the middle of PRC and ROC’s push for their own preservation. However, the winners of these are the smaller countries with questionable regimes who are undergoing political, economic and human rights crisis, these get to maintain their bad governance on behalf of aid from whatever side offers more.
As we have seen, the “China Factor” is a common variable mentioned by both sides, to maintaining unlikely relations and contributing to foreign aid within unstable democracies. Even if bigger hegemonies such as the United States, European Union maintain diplomatic ties with authoritarians and abusive regimes, they are also maintaining liberal order by promoting financial sanctions within them, however Taiwan’s relations are based primality in this exchange. Taiwan as expressed by 3 out of 4 scholars that contributed to this research with the understanding of Latin American relations, Taiwan’s foreign aid policy in Central America and Nicaragua’s political crisis, agree Taiwan has no other choice than to continue to support these regimes to secure its survival.
However, it is concerning the minimizing of human rights violations made by the Nicaraguan regime, and it is evident how Realism plays a more significant role in diplomatic relations as well as in foreign aid. Where the maintenance of one democracy in this case ROC is set upon financially supporting regimes who do not promote these values to its people. The notion that foreign aid might push these countries to develop and on the long term would make its people seek to demand more liberal values.
As the United States could demonstrate with President Nixon and the Soviet Union, financial aid origins did have its beginning as an international policy tool, to condition some sort of support or mutual benefit, however this exchange usually being monetary from a developed country in contrast with some sort of support by the weaker country, made this situation highly critical, as to why finance states that aren’t maintaining a new world liberal order, which is when the conditionality clauses for liberal values came in, and have continued to be executed until today
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through Multilateral Organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, the European Union and the UN, making it not necessary to cut diplomatic ties with countries who were acting upon settled matters such Universal Human Rights, but just show some pressure from the International community.
The use of terms such as an “alliance of democratic values” in countries like Nicaragua where everyday citizens are undergoing repression, limited access to basic rights, violence and bad distribution of the countries funds, which have been pointed out by all major powers, as well a international organizations, leaves a questionable moral grounds for ROC.
The claims that there are no interference when it comes to domestic issues of other nations are highly contradictive with statements that have been given by MOFA to support Hong Kong, as well as the United States in times of turmoil, and which are beneficial to the maintenance of Taiwan´s status.
This smaller picture presents us with the sense that fight for democracy as an international standard, only occurs by those who do aren’t affected by the claim, meaning they don’t have any similar political behavior or by those who can benefit from this pointing out. Which has been again the situation with the United States military interventions in many middle eastern countries and Latin America, who behold some sort of direct benefit. Meanwhile other states struggling with worse human rights crisis such as North Korea are condemned and critiqued, but less action is taken apart from Sanctions.
This case study demonstrates that liberal modern values are seeing as second-hand conditions when maintaining relations within states that promote liberalist values. The direction that funds have been taking for the period looked upon by this research can agree to comply with the liberalist model, as to develop since their aim has been in matter of humanitarian air, infrastructure, agricultural management, health, education and technical cooperation, which could only mean Taiwan is putting citizens from Nicaragua first, and leaving as a secondary condition liberal values the government withholds, on the other hand the criticism that these projects are used as a Clientelism tool for only Daniel Ortega supporters is well known in the case of housing donation or scholarship allocations, w turn us back into the conclusion of foreign aid as a policy tool in both dimensions international and domestic for Nicaragua, which Taiwan could have more control of. Second the fact that Taiwan maintains to be the only country currently supporting Nicaragua
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with aid, and hasn’t called out upon the regimes abuse portray that was said by scholars demonstrates Taiwan’s main interest when providing the Aid is to continue to have allies that can support their status quo in the international world Arena, in their search for their role in the World order, and against their biggest threat China.
Taiwan has accomplished greatness while overcoming the pressure from China to be isolated, managing democratic stability and economic development, as well as high social standards. It is important for Taiwan to continue their push for international inclusion, as it has done recently with the use of Soft Power and the #TaiwancanHelp motto during Pandemic times in 2020. If does not wish to make statements of allies’ crisis, it would be fundamental to take into account countries situation and hold more accountability to what aid they provide and to who. ROC should also be empowered by understanding that to countries like Nicaragua, Taiwan is as valuable as an ally as Nicaragua is to them, mainly due to their own current status in the world, which has been condemned by international organizations and hegemonies. Second to learn from previous experiences in the Latin American Region where corruption is well known and not to fall into the game which might crash Taiwan’s reputation, and might in the future affect what it so openly seeks, as a result of not promoting the standards set by these institutions who have condemned some of the allies Taiwan supports. There is also awareness of opposition parties and scholars, of the support Taiwan has given to these regimes, which might cause a future shift in support if there were to be a democratic transition in countries like Nicaragua.
As Oscar Arias former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Prize winner argued economic reasons when breaking ties with Taiwan “ It all about elemental realism”,189 we can refer it not only to economic motives from allies shifting to seek better conditions, but also to Taiwan’s elemental purpose of maintaining its democracy and values at all cost.
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