時論廣場》救援土耳其震災 別當外交突破宣傳（方恩格 Ross Darrell Feingold）

與臺灣搜救隊合作救援的搜救隊，就是23年前來臺支援921的AKUT搜救隊，雙方對於救出生還者感到振奮不已。（消防署提供）

上週一，土耳其東南部地區和敘利亞北部地區發生毀滅性的強烈地震後，國際社會迅速動員起來，派遣救援隊和提供及時援助。許多國家都以派出人員、資金援助或物資救援等方式伸出援手，臺灣作爲富裕國家和國際社會負責任的一員，也有義務參與其中。臺灣多次參與此類的救助活動，包括對薩爾瓦多、伊朗、印尼、中國大陸和海地等地區。

然而，臺灣對土耳其─敘利亞地震的反應有幾個方面讓筆者感到失望。

首先，在地震發生後的幾個小時內，臺灣政府宣佈將捐款20萬美元。目前還不清楚爲什麼臺灣在災難範圍尚未確定的時候宣佈了一筆小額捐款。無論是缺乏態勢感知意識，還是想迅速獲得對臺灣的正面新聞報導，這個宣佈都嫌倉促。

幸運的是，捐款後來增加到200萬美元，雖然相對而言還是比較少的。例如，韓國三星電子宣佈捐贈150萬美元現金和150萬美元物資。如果臺灣政府的財政資源限制在200萬美元的捐款，那麼政府機構針對國際社會的英文推文，可能就沒有必要包括美元金額。

可能是意識到臺灣的捐款較少，總統蔡英文、副總統賴清德、行政院長陳建仁隨後各捐出一個月的薪水用於救災，土耳其媒體說這深具意義，臺灣媒隨即大肆報導，似乎反應過度。

第二，臺灣的外交部多次針對搜救隊機場送行發文。第一條推文是外交部長吳釗燮和內政部長林右昌，第二條推文是陳建仁院長和吳釗燮部長。

大陸官方媒體也報導了其搜救隊前往土耳其機場送行的消息。當臺灣政府官員和大陸政府官員有相似的公關策略時，肯定有問題。在救難隊抵達土耳其後不久，蔡總統和林右昌與搜救隊舉行了視訊會議。難怪臺灣有人批評這是不必要的宣傳噱頭。

第三，臺灣搜救隊登上聯合國官網，內政部消防署宣佈「突破」。一個聯合國網站列出了在土耳其的搜救隊所在的國家／地區，對於臺灣搜救隊描述爲「臺灣台北」。消防署卻宣佈這是一個「重大突破」。如果描述爲「臺灣」，就像描述其他國家名稱一樣，也許會是一個很大的突破，但加上「臺北」顯然是爲了表明臺灣不是一個國家。消防署有什麼好高興的？

類似反應發生在BBC將臺灣列入援土國家名單後，有臺媒稱這是一個突破。不過，很多國際媒體都將臺灣稱爲一個國家，BBC的報導也算不上什麼突破口。

臺灣政府積極宣傳臺灣對土耳其和敘利亞的援助，這無可厚非。但負責宣傳的人應該牢記這是悲劇的發生，在宣傳上更加謹慎。此外，臺灣的政府和民進黨在即將到來的總統和立委選舉中，將強調外交政策的成功，並試圖尋求更多的外交政策「突破」。然而，在去年11月的地方選舉中，類似的選民兜售外交成功的策略是失敗的。

最後，歐盟委員會宣佈將於3月爲土耳其和敘利亞舉辦一次國際捐助者會議。外交部總喜歡說，歐盟印太合作戰略強調臺灣作爲理念相近夥伴的角色。這是否意味着歐盟委員會將允許臺灣政府參加？可能不會，正如歐盟委員會所說，這次會議是爲「歐盟成員國、鄰國、聯合國成員國、國際金融機構和其他利益相關者」舉辦的。

臺灣對土耳其和敘利亞的援助值得欽佩，但這還不是外交政策的突破。

（作者爲美國共和黨前亞太區主席）

全文版：

Taiwan’s Aid to Türkiye Should be Applauded, But Not Overly Marketed

By Ross Darrell Feingold

Former Asia Chairman, Republicans Abroad

Twitter: @RossFeingold

The international community has quickly mobilized to send rescue teams and aid after the devastating earthquakes in the south-eastern region of Türkiye and northern region of Syria last Monday. Many countries have sent personnel or financial aid and supplies, and as a wealthy country and responsible member of the international community, it is Taiwan’s obligation to join these efforts too. Taiwan has joined such efforts many times, including in El Salvador, Iran, Indonesia, mainland China, and Haiti.

However, several aspects of Taiwan’s response to the Türkiye-Syria earthquake disappointed this author.

First, in the hours immediately after the earthquake, the Taiwan government announced it will donate USD200,000. It’s unclear why Taiwan announced a small donation at a time when the scope of the disaster had yet to be determined. Whether it is a lack of situational awareness, or a desire to quickly obtain positive news coverage for Taiwan, the announcement was rushed.

Fortunately, the donation was later increased to USD2,000,000, though this is still relatively small. For example, Korea’s Samsung Electronics announced a donation of USD1,500,000 in cash and USD1,500,000 in goods. If the financial resources of Taiwan’s government limit it to a USD2,000,000 donation, it’s probably unnecessary to include the dollar amount in English language tweets by government agencies that are directed at the global community.

Perhaps recognizing that Taiwan’s donation is relatively small, President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice President William Lai, and Premier Chen Chien-jen then each donated one month’s salary to relief efforts, which Taiwan media then reported as having significant coverage in Türkiye media.

Second, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted multiple times about airport send-offs for the search and rescue teams. The first tweet showed Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu and the Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang, and the second tweet showed Premier Chen and Minister Wu.

The mainland’s state media also had reports about the airport send-off of its search and rescue team departing for Türkiye. When Taiwan government officials and mainland government officials have similar public relations strategies, something must be wrong.

President Tsai and Minister of the Interior Lin then held a video conference with the search and rescue team shortly after it arrived in Türkiye. It is no surprise that some in Taiwan criticized this as being an unnecessary publicity stunt.

Third is the Ministry of the Interior National Fire Agency’s desire to announce a “breakthrough”. A United Nations website lists the home country of the search and rescue teams that are in Türkiye. For the Taiwan search and rescue team, the description is “Taipei, Taiwan”. The National Fire Agency proclaimed this is a big breakthrough. Perhaps it would be a big breakthrough if the description was “Taiwan” just like the other descriptions are only the name of the country. However, adding “Taipei” is clearly for purposes of showing Taiwan is not a country. What is the National Fire Agency so happy about?

A similar reaction occurred when the BBC included Taiwan on a list of countries sending aid to Türkiye, and some Taiwan media reported this is a breakthrough. However, many international media refer to Taiwan as a country, thus, the BBC report is not a breakthrough either.

It is understandable that the Taiwan government seeks positive publicity for the aid Taiwan provides to Türkiye and Syria. But those responsible for the publicity should keep in mind that a tragedy occurred and be more careful in their publicity efforts. In addition, during the upcoming presidential and legislative election campaigns the Taiwan government and Democratic Progressive Party will emphasize their foreign policy successes, and try to seek more foreign policy “breakthroughs”. However, a similar strategy to sell foreign relations success to voters in last November’s local election failed.

Finally, the European Commission has announced that in March, it will host an international donor conference for Türkiye and Syria. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs likes to note that the European Commission’s Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific stresses Taiwan's role as a responsible partner. Does that mean the European Commission will allow the Taiwan government to attend? Probably not, as the European Commission says the conference is for “EU Member States, neighboring countries, United Nations members, international financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders”.

Taiwan’s aid to Türkiye and Syria is admirable, but not it’s not yet a foreign policy breakthrough.