Taiwan Admits ‘Long-Time Practice’ of Hiring Lobbyists, PR Firms to Push Closer US Relations

More than once since taking office, US President Joe Biden has had to walk back statements that the US is obligated by treaty to defend Taiwan from Chinese attack, undermining a longstanding policy of “strategic ambiguity” about whether Washington would risk nuclear war over the island’s autonomy.

In a rare public admission, the autonomous government in Taiwan confirmed reports in Taiwanese media that it has shelled out massive amounts of money on public relations and lobbying efforts in the United States to build support for its continued stand against the Chinese government.

“Regardless of which political party is the government, this is a long-time practice for our representative office in the US to hire public relations firms to assist us in strengthening ties with the United States,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters on Thursday.

Ou asserted that “Many countries have also hired public relations firms to lobby [the US]” and that Taipei’s practices have been legal and transparent.

The admission followed a report in Taipei-based United Daily News (UDN), which revealed much of the details in a Thursday story.

The paper combed through the US Department of Justice’s files for the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), finding that among those contracted to push a pro-Taiwan position in Washington, DC, have been Dick Gephardt, a former Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives, and Bob Dole, a prominent former US Senator who made a failed presidential bid in 1996 on the Republican ticket. UDN also mentioned Potomac International Partners, a lobbying firm close to the Republican Party.

According to the paper, Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a faction that supports independence from China, paid Potomac $30,000 a month to represent its interests in Washington; Dole $20,000 a month and Gephardt $22,000 a month. However, it notes that both men had good relations with the Kuomintang (KMT) government before, too, with the lobbying deals going back to at least 2013 but intensifying after DPP leader Tsai Ing-Wen became Taiwan’s president in 2016.

The following year, Donald Trump became the US President, and the US grew increasingly close to Taiwan, selling it more weapons than ever and giving it new diplomatic cover internationally. Numerous high-profile visits by US politicians have followed, and maintaining Taiwan’s autonomy from Beijing has become a major part of Washington’s larger drive against China in what it calls “great power competition.” US President Joe Biden has continued those policies.

In 2017 alone, Taiwan paid US lobbyists $3.2 million, UDN noted. In late 2016, Dole’s role in greasing the wheels of the US-Taiwan relationship, and with Trump especially, via his law firm Alston & Bird fell in the public spotlight thanks to the New York Times. The paper noted that between May and October 2016, Dole’s firm received $140,000 from Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington.

Slate also revealed at that time that former leading Democratic senator Tom Daschle, who formed a lobbying firm after leaving office in 2004, was also on Taipei’s payroll.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, fourth from right, waves with U.S. senators to his right Democratic Sen. Christopher Coons of Delaware, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, members of the Armed Services Committee on their arrival at the Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan on Sunday, June 6, 2021

© AP Photo

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebellious province of China and has vowed to reunify the country, split ever since the civil war of the 1930s and 40s. The US switched its recognition of the legitimate Chinese government from the Republic of China rump state in Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China in Beijing in 1979, officially recognizing Beijing’s One China Policy, but maintaining its informal support for Taipei at the same time.

Ou told reporters Thursday that “The function of public relations companies is to help the US government and people to have a better understanding of Taiwan.”

With just a handful of countries that still recognize its legitimacy, Taipei has struggled to keep the friends it has. Recent countries to switch their recognition from Taipei to Beijing include Nicaragua, Kiribati, and the Solomon Islands, with Honduras possibly following if President Xiomara Castro follows through on her campaign pledge.

In January, it was revealed that Taiwan was bankrolling a powerful lobbying firm, Ballard Partners, to represent the Guatemalan government’s interests in Washington. Guatemala is one of just 14 states that recognize the ROC as the Chinese government.