TY - JOUR
T1 - Breaking the ice
T2 - The origins of Taiwan's economic diplomacy towards the Soviet Union and its European allies
AU - Tubilewicz, Czeslaw
N1 - Funding Information:
Taipei was even more successful in the Baltic republics. The first Baltic officials visited the island in early March 1991. Two Latvians, Maris Gailis, the general director of the Department of Foreign Economic Links, and Ojars Kehris, the chairman of the Economic Commission of the Supreme Council, allegedly proposed reciprocal establishment of trade offices and requested Taiwanese financial assistance. In return, vice foreign minister Chang declared the ROC’s willingness to make substantial capital investments in Latvia, while dismissing criticism that promoting economic ties with Latvia would affect nascent co-operation between Taiwan and the USSR.
PY - 2004/9
Y1 - 2004/9
N2 - For two decades the Soviet bloc made a concerted effort to normalise relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Once this had been accomplished in 1989, the systemic changes in the Soviet bloc and the tragedy of 4 June diminished the ideological and geo-strategic significance of friendship with the PRC. In this context Taiwan faced an unprecedented opportunity to present itself to the states in transition not only as a democratic and economically developed alternative to China but also as a significant source of investment and an attractive trade partner. Was Taiwanese diplomacy flexible enough to recognise this opportunity and exploit it to enlarge Taipei's international space? This article will attempt to address the above question by focusing on Taiwanese economic diplomacy towards East Central Europe (ECE), the Soviet Union (USSR) and its successor states. The analysis will commence in 1987, when overt Taiwanese interest in entering communist markets was soon reciprocated by reformist Hungary, and end in late 1991, when the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) emerged from the Soviet ruins and Taipei conclusively abandoned its anti-communist phobias when interacting with the former communist states.
AB - For two decades the Soviet bloc made a concerted effort to normalise relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Once this had been accomplished in 1989, the systemic changes in the Soviet bloc and the tragedy of 4 June diminished the ideological and geo-strategic significance of friendship with the PRC. In this context Taiwan faced an unprecedented opportunity to present itself to the states in transition not only as a democratic and economically developed alternative to China but also as a significant source of investment and an attractive trade partner. Was Taiwanese diplomacy flexible enough to recognise this opportunity and exploit it to enlarge Taipei's international space? This article will attempt to address the above question by focusing on Taiwanese economic diplomacy towards East Central Europe (ECE), the Soviet Union (USSR) and its successor states. The analysis will commence in 1987, when overt Taiwanese interest in entering communist markets was soon reciprocated by reformist Hungary, and end in late 1991, when the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) emerged from the Soviet ruins and Taipei conclusively abandoned its anti-communist phobias when interacting with the former communist states.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=4544242201&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0966813042000258097
DO - 10.1080/0966813042000258097
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:4544242201
SN - 0966-8136
VL - 56
SP - 891
EP - 906
JO - Europe - Asia Studies
JF - Europe - Asia Studies
IS - 6
ER -