方恩格快評》別混淆外交政策和疫苗政策

爲什麼臺灣政府沒有要求臺積電創辦人張忠謀提出臺灣可以作爲代工夥伴，而不是乞求疫苗，這將是一種更好的疫苗和外交政策結合的方式。（總統府提供）

過去一週發生的幾起事件，繼續將臺灣的外交政策目標與解決迄今爲止無法獲得足夠疫苗劑量的需求混在一起。個人以爲，將外交政策（和國家安全）目標與疫苗採購分開符合臺灣的利益。

上週日本宣佈將捐贈給臺灣更多疫苗劑量，這幾乎與邀請政務委員唐鳳參加東京奧運會同時發生（儘管她的行程最終被取消）；而這也與日本政界最近的公開聲明、以及2021《防衛白皮書》討論臺灣安全局勢對日本的重要性是同時發生。這種言論，無論是日本政客的口頭表達，還是日本政府的文件，都受到臺灣許多人的歡迎，儘管日本尚未承諾採取實質性行動與臺灣在安全問題上合作、或在軍事衝突中協助臺灣。

無論如何，日本的這種行爲不是憑空而來，日後還會向臺灣尋求回報。這是否是要求臺灣停止從福島地區進口核災食品的禁令、施壓臺灣改變其在東海捕魚和主權爭端問題上的立場、要求臺灣半導體公司在日本進行大量投資，或是其他議題，還有待觀察。

其次，斯洛伐克宣佈捐贈10000劑疫苗給臺灣。斯洛伐克駐臺北經濟文化辦事處在臉書發文稱，此舉旨在回饋臺灣在2020年向斯洛伐克捐贈的70萬個口罩。雖然斯洛伐克回饋臺灣的慷慨是適當的，但當政府機構忙於宣佈的大量捐贈和採購進口到臺灣時，捐贈這10000 劑，對臺灣來說卻可能是低效能的。

或許臺灣外交部可以向斯洛伐克建議，以斯洛伐克和臺灣的名義將這10000劑疫苗聯合捐贈給一個目前新冠病例數遠多於臺灣的國家。外交部在推文中感謝斯洛伐克，「這一慷慨行爲反映了我們熱愛自由和民主國家之間的友誼和交流的力量」，儘管捐助國沒有也不應該將其疫苗捐贈僅限於民主國家，相信臺灣也不會這樣狹隘吧！

最後，在亞太經合組織（APEC）非正式領袖會議中，代表蔡英文總統的張忠謀重申臺灣對疫苗的需求。張忠謀先生在出席峰會的政府首腦中當然是很受尊敬的，但他的「我們需要幫助」和「我們還需要更多的疫苗，而且要更快」的話有可能讓臺灣在國際社會面前被視爲「疫苗乞丐」。

事實上，臺灣有財力直接從廠家採購疫苗，臺灣企業也有能力爲外企做外包生產合作夥伴（張忠謀擅長的商業模式）。有人想知道爲什麼臺灣政府沒有要求張先生提出臺灣可以作爲代工夥伴，而不是乞求疫苗，這將是一種更好的疫苗和外交政策結合的方式。

Foreign Policy Is Still Not Vaccine Policy

By Ross Darrell Feingold

Former Asia Chairman Republicans Abroad

Several events over the past week continue to mix Taiwan’s foreign policy goals with the need to solve Taiwan’s inability to date to acquire enough vaccine doses to satisfy demand. In this observer’s opinion it is in Taiwan’s interest to keep foreign policy (and national security) goals separate from vaccine acquisition.

Last week Japan announced it will donate more vaccine doses to Taiwan. This occurred nearly simultaneous to an invitation for minister without portfolio Audrey Tang Feng to attend the Tokyo Olympics (though her trip was eventually cancelled). It was also simultaneous to recent public statements by Japanese politicians and government officials along with a defense white paper that discuss the importance to Japan of Taiwan’s security situation. Such statements whether verbally by Japanese politicians or in Japanese government documents are welcome by many people in Taiwan even though it is not yet a commitment by Japan to take substantive action to cooperate with Taiwan on security issues or to assist Taiwan in a military conflict. Regardless such actions by Japan do not exist in a void and Japan will in the future seek something in return from Taiwan. It remains to be seen whether this is to demand Taiwan end the ban on import of food from the Fukushima region pressure on Taiwan to modify its positions on East China Sea fishing and sovereignty disputes requests for Taiwan’s semiconductor companies to make significant investments in Japan or other issues.

Secondly Slovakia announced a donation 10000 vaccine doses. The Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said in a Facebook post that the gesture is aimed at reciprocating Taiwan's donation of 700000 facemasks to Slovakia in 2020. Although it is appropriate for Slovakia to reciprocate Taiwan’s generosity it is probably inefficient for Taiwan to accept a donation of 10000 doses when government agencies are busy managing the import into Taiwan of the recently announced donations and purchases that are far larger quantities. Perhaps Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs could have suggested to Slovakia that these 10000 vaccine doses be donated jointly in the name of Slovakia and Taiwan to a country that currently has a far larger number of positive COVID-19 cases than Taiwan has. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in a Tweet thanking Slovakia that “The generous gesture reflects the strength of friendship & exchanges between our freedom- & democracy-loving countries” even though donor countries do not and should not limit their vaccine donations only to democracies. Hopefully Taiwan does not advocate such a limitation.

Finally at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders' Retreat Morris Chang who represented President Tsai Ing-wen reiterated Taiwan’s request for help to meet its vaccine needs. Mr. Chang is certainly well respect among the heads of government who attended the summit. But his words “We need help” and "we still need more vaccines and need them sooner" risk making Taiwan appear to the international community as a vaccine beggar. In fact Taiwan has the financial resources to purchase vaccines directly from the manufacturers and Taiwan companies have the capability to be an outsourced manufacturing partner for foreign companies (a business model that Mr. Chang is an expert in). One wonders why the Taiwan government did not ask Mr. Chang to emphatically propose that Taiwan can be the outsourced manufacturing partner which rather than beg for vaccines would be a better way to mix vaccine and foreign policies.

※以上言論不代表旺中媒體集團立場※