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"Never let a good crisis go to waste": Why Taiwan used its COVID-19 management as a public diplomacy strategy to overcome its international isolation

par Ledieu, Rachel
Promoteur Kellner, Thierry
Co-Promoteur Frangville, Vanessa
Publication Non publié, 2021-08-31

Mémoire

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Résumé :

“Never let a good crisis go to waste”, said Winston Churchill as he was working to form the United Nations after World War II. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan seems to have taken that advice, as it turned its successful COVID-management into a political and diplomatic opportunity. This thesis aims to explore why Taiwan used its COVID-19 management as a public diplomacy strategy to advance its foreign policy goals in the European Union. Through interviews with experts on the field and with the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium, we have explored the systemic, domestic, and personal factors influencing the use of public diplomacy around COVID-19 to push for more space on the international scene. Our findings are that Taiwan mainly aims to increase its visibility among foreign publics by calling for inclusion into the WHO mechanism. To achieve this goal, Taiwan attempts to ensure a change in public opinion by establishing itself as a credible and attractive source of information. Thus, the government continuously puts Taiwan’s democracy and transparency in the foreground to highlight that its political system is distinct from mainland China’s and should be treated as such.