How David battles the might of Goliath

Date: 23/01/03

By Peter Chapman

YOU won't find David Tawei Lee at any of the nightly cocktail parties and dinners that litter the Brussels diplomatic calendar. He is not invited.

That's because most nations, together with the EU, do not officially recognise his country, Taiwan - also known as the Republic of China. (Its huge communist neighbour is the People's Republic of China).

It's an inconvenience for the de facto Taiwanese ambassador to the EU, whose 50-strong 'representative office' in Brussels is a fully functioning embassy in everything but name.

"You can grab a VIP at a cocktail party and get a quick answer to a question. Without that you must arrange a meeting. It takes time. That's a disadvantage for sure," says Lee.

Nevertheless, he prefers to make the best of a bad hand rather than carp about the 'one China policy' that continues to isolate his democratic island home in preference of its colossal neighbour - and deny him his diplomatic dinners.

"This [one China policy] is the reality I have to live with every day. If I were angry I could not continue my life here our game in this town is very much like David versus Goliath - and it just happens that my name is David."

Goliath, of course, is the "other China", he laughs.

The Chinese authorities continually track policies and speeches of the EU towards Taiwan. Positive moves, claims Lee, are always rewarded with a warning letter from Beijing, stating this is "against EU-China relations".

"This is the instantaneous response. Unfortunately, the other side [the People's Republic] always looks at EU-China-Taiwan relations as a zero sum game. I see it as a win-win situation.

"Yes, there is always a giant looking over your shoulder to see what you are doing. But that is the challenge of our job in Brussels. We have to work extra hard in order to make some progress - and that makes our job very interesting."

Taiwan craves international recognition, particularly a seat on bodies such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Lee does admit to being frustrated at times. He wishes the EU would follow the example of the United States and offer more political support to his country.

However Lee, educated in the US, insists his country's recognition is not uppermost on his own Brussels agenda - a reason why he prefers to avoid criticising External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten for sticking with the one China policy.

"These are the high politics," he explains. "I spend more time on the rest - the nitty-gritty, the more possible and feasible."

Despite his lack of diplomatic status, Lee says informal communication channels are always open between his office and the European Commission.

Especially when billions of euro of trade are at stake.

A case in point is last year's dog-fight between Europe's Airbus and America's Boeing over a contract to supply a new fleet to Taiwan's majority state-owned airline.

Originally the airline planned to buy from Airbus. But then, all the spoils looked set to go to Boeing after the Americans waged a powerful lobbying campaign. Lee hints this was not necessarily played to the letter of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which Taiwan joined last year.

"In general, all government procurement contracts ought to be based on commercial merits. However, in the real world, it's not quite exactly as the WTO rules say.

"Some of the main players don't completely comply - they may use their political influence to try to make their offers more attractive," he admits.

Lee used his own influence in Taipei to help Airbus - and to avert a U-turn that would have damaged relations with Europe.

"Clearly Airbus was not happy. I explained to them that my feelings were exactly the same as theirs. I told them that 'you and I are in the same boat'.

"I got a lot of phone calls from MEPs and the Commission expressing their concern. I sent off these messages to Taipei: it was the height of the holiday season and many of the people involved were away - but we got them on their mobile phones. In the end, half of the contract went to Boeing and half to Airbus. Not a bad result."

For that Lee accepts some of the credit, but he modestly insists that Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy "played a crucial role" behind the scenes.

Proof that trade relations with Taiwan - if not diplomatic ones - are alive and well.

David Tawei Lee, Taiwan's representative in Brussels, describes the difficulties he faces due to the fact that, along with many other nations, the EU does not officially recognise his country.