ABSTRACT
From the late 1940s until the 1970s Taipei pursued a policy of hostility towards all socialist states, irrespective of their geographical location. However, when it allowed direct trade with Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia in November 1979, the majority of Balkan states were considered too hostile to benefit from the new policy. Only in December 1981 did Taiwan permit direct trade with Bulgaria, followed shortly by Romania. The end of Taipei’s ban on direct trade with the Balkans notwithstanding, Taiwan continued to consider the Balkan states not only as politically suspect (due to their intimate relations with Beijing), but also as economically less attractive than their counterparts in Central Europe. In the early 1980s, Taipei cautiously encouraged Taiwanese entrepreneurs to explore Central European markets.1 This encouragement was lacking with the Balkans (again, with the exception of Yugoslavia). As a result, the Balkans lagged behind Central Europe in advancing economic relations with the ROC. By the late 1980s, Taiwan’s increasing diplomatic isolation, its need to identify new export markets, as well as its domestic democratization forced Taipei to rethink an ideological approach towards the communist states in general and the Balkans in particular. When, in 1988, the Executive Yuan announced – for the second time – the policy of direct trade with the communist states, only Albania was excluded. The Balkans, preoccupied with their domestic problems, appeared moderately interested in stronger economic ties with Taipei. In 1988, Romania and Yugoslavia were the first among the communist states to open direct dialling with Taiwan. In the same year, Romania became Taiwan’s third largest communist trading partner, while Bulgaria’s trade with the ROC surpassed that of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In March 1990, Taipei finally terminated its long-standing hostility towards Tirana by lifting the ban on both direct trade and Taiwanese investments in Albania. In late 1990, Taipei indicated that the Balkan states may, in the near future, apply for aid from the OECDF.2
