Paradiplomacy as a Response to International Isolation: The Case of Taiwan

• In Event: China-Taiwan Relations and World Politics

Abstract

Although the importance of non-state actors in international relations is now widely acknowledged, formal state-to-state ties, embodied in bilateral alliances and multilateral intergovernmental organizations, remain an essential measure of a state’s strength in the international community. As these traditional components of sovereignty are eroded, what options remain open to states seeking to forestall international isolation? Drawing on a case study of Taiwan, this paper explores the potential and the pitfalls of using paradiplomacy—the pursuit of formal government-to-government ties by subnational state actors—as a substitute for traditional diplomacy. This paper focuses on four types of US-Taiwan paradiplomacy: sister city agreements, driver’s license reciprocity, visits by U.S. governors to Taiwan, and the establishment of export promotion and trade offices in Taiwan by U.S. states. Drawing on in-depth interviews with officials in the U.S. and Taiwan, and an original dataset of Taiwan’s paradiplomacy agreements, I argue that Taiwan uses paradiplomacy for three primary purposes: as a hedging strategy during moments in which the US-Taiwan relationship is especially weak or the PRC’s efforts to constrain Taiwan’s international space are particularly vigorous; as a tool for developing long-term relationships that may strengthen Taiwan’s ties to officials in the US federal government in the future; and as a performative strategy for asserting Taiwan’s statehood by showing others that it acts like a state. While paradiplomacy thus serves as a useful tool for Taiwan as it seeks to strengthen crucial ties to US policymakers, these efforts have become increasingly complicated as mainland Chinese influence on local politics in the US increases. This paper thus sheds light on the phenomenon of paradiplomacy in the US-Taiwan relationship, but also on the ways in which American federalism can complicate US foreign policy toward both its partners and its competitors in East Asia.

Author

• Sara A. Newland, Smith College