ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses Taiwan’s public diplomacy during the Ma Ying-jiu era. Ma believed strongly in Taiwan’s soft power and the contribution that public diplomacy can make to attaining more international visibility and influence. Rawnsley’s core argument is that Taiwan has substantial soft power, but needs to improve its public diplomacy efforts in order to make good use of it. More precisely, the dissolution of the Government Information Office in 2012 with the concomitant transfer of responsibilities to the conservative Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the newly established Ministry of Culture were major political errors that resulted in a number of public diplomacy setbacks and limited Taiwan’s potential to unlock its ‘disabling environment’. Since then, no central government authority has been successful in developing a consistent method for Taiwan to send its message out into the world. As a matter of fact, Taiwan’s public diplomacy has been reduced to projecting an image of Taiwan as the preserver of traditional Chinese culture to global audiences, and intentionally renouncing the notion of bringing home the narrative of Taiwan’s democratic values and good governance. However, this narrative has been rescued by Taiwan’s vibrant civil society and NGOs.
