Between Diplomacy and Paradiplomacy: Taiwan's Foreign Relations in Current Practice

Abstract

Abstract The study deals with Taiwan’s engagement in international relations from the viewpoint of practical performance of its foreign activities. It is stressed that Taiwan’s foreign activities may be divided by their nature into two basic groups: the official diplomatic activities that Taiwan carries out in relation to those foreign states with which it has established diplomatic relations, and unofficial quasidiplomatic or paradiplomatic activities that Taiwan carries out in relation to the states with which it does not have diplomatic relations. In the study, the diplomatic and quasidiplomatic or paradiplomatic activities of Taiwan are compared, especially with emphasis on their institutional backgrounds, legal regulations, and other conditions for their practical performance. It is concluded that the differences between the diplomatic and paradiplomatic dimensions of Taiwan’s foreign activities are rooted mainly in their formal and protocolar aspects, whereas from the viewpoint of their organization and practical performance, these differences are minimal.