Soft Power In Taiwan

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Introduction Joseph Nye of Harvard University had initiated a power-related concept called “soft power” to expound the ability of a nation to get what it wants by attracting other nations without threats or forceand beyond military and economic power. Nye also wrote that such ability stems from three main aspects: culture, political values, and foreign policies. Despite many shortcomings such as the small size of the state and population, unrecognizable sovereignty, and a non-member of the United Nations, Taiwan has been able to retain quite good diplomatic relations with many countries around the world while its hard power resources in terms of military force, except for economic power have been fragile in the face of threats from China.…show more content…
Taiwan has won admiration from around the world for its cultivation and use of soft power. Nye also said that as Taiwan possesses soft power, it could use that to empower itself to deal with China, block China’s influence, and further broaden its international space. This embrace of soft power is also reflected in the senior leadership of Taiwan. Until now, Taiwan’s leaders have, therefore, backed this theory time and again, stressing the significance of soft power for Taiwan to look forward. According former Vice President Annette Lu, Taiwan’s soft power is categorized by five aspects such as democracy, human rights, peace, love, and advanced technology. Taiwanese have so far enjoyed peace and political stability for many years after a tumultuous chapter of history. Another important anecdote in Taiwan’s leadership is when the current President Ma Ying-jeou notably embraced the concept of soft power to promote values of Taiwan when taking office back in 2008. This paper aims to highlight how a small sovereign state like Taiwan possesses soft power, projects it to the world, and uses it for its own…show more content…
In this scenario, it can be argued that because soft power offers this de facto sovereign state a vital, albeit uncertain substitute for hard power resources that it otherwise lacks, soft power matters to a great degree to Taiwan. It gives Taiwan an essential means for obtaining support from its ally, the United States, and others in the international community and for blocking China’s efforts to utilize soft power to its advantage while pursuing its Taiwan policy. The current debate is that the recent version of cross-Strait soft power competition is the latest episode in a decades-old and long-evolving contest that predates widespread use of the term ‘‘soft power.’’ Many East-Asian experts have also discussed the ambition and developments in cross-Strait and U.S.-China-Taiwan relations which will eventually change the way we see all these countries and soft

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