外文隔層紗看台灣／《BBC》 忽略了台灣的金援外交政策

方恩格／居台三十年美國人

2023年10月16日，英國廣播公司媒體（BBC）在官網上刊出一篇名為《憂慮而孤獨的台灣正在尋找新盟友》的文章。該篇文章由記者傅東飛（Rupert Wingfield-Hayes）撰寫，他在BBC多年來報導亞洲相關新聞，而有著豐富經驗。

在總統蔡英文照片下方圖說中，錯誤地指出她將在明年一月「卸任」。實際上，雖然總統選舉是在一月舉行，但蔡總統要到5月20日、新總統就職時才會卸任。遺憾的是，BBC不是唯一犯下這種錯誤的媒體，而這是不可原諒的。儘管BBC隨後將圖說做出修正，表示蔡總統將在「明年卸任」。但不知什麼原因，BBC拒絕寫明正確日期，即5月20日。

該篇文章的重點在於，台灣面對中國日益增強的實力，要維持外交關係的困難，而台灣「急需新盟友」。文中也指出「中國的支票比台灣更多，其經濟規模也比台灣大得多。」

作為台灣尋找新盟友的例子，文章討論了台灣與立陶宛之間的關係，並解釋道「東歐年輕的民主國家是結交新朋友的最肥沃土壤」。但這篇文章卻也未能解釋，台灣與立陶宛之間的關係也是基於某種形式的金援外交。

台灣已承諾在立陶宛的科技產業投資2億美元，並致力於提供價值10億美元的「信用基金」，給在中、東歐（包括立陶宛）經商的台灣企業。此外，台灣還支付立陶宛國會議員訪台的相關費用。

儘管BBC的文章有指出「台北甚至宣佈在立陶宛投資1,000萬美元，生產台灣最珍貴的產品——晶片」，但它並未說明台灣會做出這項投資的背景因素，也忽略了台灣對立陶宛在財政承諾上的規模。文中還指出立陶宛萊姆酒的進口，在過去幾年於台灣飆升，但忽略了台灣國營企業（即台灣菸酒股份有限公司）在進口立陶宛萊姆酒時，其實是中國改變心意不再購買的爭議性。

一篇更好的文章應該精確解釋台灣對立陶宛的財政承諾，並分析台灣是否確實履行，並解釋這其實是某種形式的金援外交。事實上，根據立陶宛國家廣播電台於2022年10月24日的報導指出，台灣對立陶宛「承諾的投資遲未到位」。

關於本專欄

方恩格曾任美國共和黨亞太區主席，旅居香港、新加坡等地，目前定居在台灣，並熱愛台灣這塊土地。他堅信國際間有關的台灣論述，應以最公正客觀的方式被書寫，無論這些外文論述的書寫立意原本是多麼良善，若是隔層紗看台灣、錯誤描述台灣的歷史脈絡，對台灣的國際地位可能會造成傷害。

他的《外文隔層紗看台灣》專欄，將鎖定值得探討、談台灣的英文文章，並對其內容做出反饋。

也歡迎讀者對他的文章提出反饋：rossmedia2018@gmail.coｍ

以下為英文版原文

On October 16, 2023, the BBC website published an article titled “A spooked and lonely Taiwan looks for new friends”. The article was authored by reporter Ruper Wingfield-Hayes, who has many years of experience reporting on Asia for the BBC.

A caption below a photo of President Tsai Ing-wen said she will “step down in January”. Actually, the presidential election is in January, but President Tsai steps down on May 20 when the new president is inaugurated. Unfortunately, the BBC is not the only media to make this mistake, but this kind of mistake is inexcusable. The BBC later revised the photo caption to say President Tsai will “step down next year”. For whatever reason, the BBC refuses to write the actual date of May 20.

The focus of this article is on the difficulty Taiwan has in maintaining diplomatic relationships given China’s growing power, and Taiwan is in “desperate need of new allies.” The article explains that “China's cheque book is bigger than Taiwan's - and its economy vastly more important.”.

As an example of a new friend for Taiwan, the article discusses Taiwan’s relationship with Lithuania, and explains that “the most fertile ground for making new friends is in the young democracies of Eastern Europe”.

What this article fails to explain is that Taiwan’s relationship with Lithuania is also based on a form of chequebook diplomacy.

Taiwan has pledged to invest USD200,000,000 in Lithuania’s technology industry, and committed to provide a USD1,000,000,000 “credit fund” for Taiwan companies doing business in central and eastern Europe, including Lithuania. In addition, Taiwan has paid for members of Lithuania’s parliament to visit Taiwan.

Although the BBC article notes that “Taipei has even announced a $10m investment in Lithuania in the most prized Taiwanese product – chips”, the article fails to provide the background as to why Taiwan made this investment, and omits the size of Taiwan’s financial commitment to Lithuania. The article claims that imports of Lithuanian rum “have soared in Taiwan in the last few years”, but omits the controversial role of Taiwan’s state owned enterprises when they purchased Lithuanian rum that China changed its mind about buying.

A better article would accurately explain Taiwan’s financial commitments to Lithuania, analyze whether Taiwan has satisfied the financial commitment to Lithuania, and explain that this is also a form of chequebook diplomacy.

In fact, as reported by Lithuanian National Radio and Television (立陶宛國家廣播電視台) on October 24, 2022, Taiwan’s “promised investments are slow to come” to Lithuania.

About the Author

Ross Feingold previously served as Republicans Abroad Asia Chairman, and he has resided in Hong Kong, Singapore. His love for Taiwan led him to become a permanent resident. Ross strongly believes foreign language commentary about Taiwan should be fair and objective, and no matter how well-intentioned, it is harmful to Taiwan when such materials lack context, or are factually inaccurate.

The “On Foreign Language Materials About Taiwan” column explores foreign language materials about Taiwan and provides feedback on their content.  Email tips or feedback about this column to: rossmedia2018@gmail.com

菱傳媒原始網址：外文隔層紗看台灣／《BBC》 忽略了台灣的金援外交政策