1. The Taiwan Lobby, Formosan Nationalism, and The K-Street Strategy: Success or Failure in Influencing U.S. Foreign Policy?
- Author
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Star, Marriah
- Subjects
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LOBBYING , *NATIONALISM ,TAIWAN-United States relations - Abstract
The Taiwan Lobby in the United States comprises 5 different components. There is Taiwan's unofficial embassy, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO); the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of North America (TCCNA); World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI); the Formosan Association for Political Activity (FAPA); and there is the Kuomintang (KMT), which represented the Republic of China (ROC) from 1949 to 2001. TCCNA and FAPA have opposed the KMT. Each organization has used a different lobbying technique to achieve influence. Since Taiwan does not have an official embassy, and hence cannot rely on official interaction with the executive branch, the various lobbies are forced to seek influence over Congress, which is more porous and diverse. The KMT relied on the old "China Lobby", which comprised missionaries, businessmen, military leaders, and members of Congress, especially Republicans. In opposing the KMT, FAPA sought to influence Democratic members of Congress during the 1980s. FAPA succeeded in persuading Congress to convince the KMT to end 40 years of martial law on Taiwan. Over the subsequent 20 years of political liberalization on Taiwam, the different Taiwanese organizations have collectively focused on K Street lobbies as a mechanism to influence Congress, with the Taiwan government paying such lobbies as Cassidy & Associates. Does this strategy make a difference on U.S. foreign policy toward Taiwan? The Taiwan Lobby is second in influence only to AIPAC, and the lobbying firms it hires help generate dozens of congressional bills, such as the most recent call for Taiwan to be admitted to the UN. Yet, the executive branch has dominance in foreign policy, and has not changed its policy toward Taiwan since 1982, thus bills often fail. The Taiwan Lobby has tried to shift the locus of decision-making power from the executive branch to the legislative branch. Has this strategy been successful? If so, what is the extent of this success and how exactly is it achieved? In particular, since FAPA is the most active organization, what are the components of its operation? One possible component is the transnational communal politics practiced by Formosan nationalists and expressed through FAPA. This component is potentially valuable under a three-level framework that entails states, domestic politics, and transnational actors. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007