Does Soft Power Have Any Value for Taiwan?

Focus Asia May, 2024

As a diplomatic tool, soft power conveys the core values and ideology of a country and serves as its front window abroad to win sympathy for its beliefs, values, and institutions. The aim is to garner support for political agendas and determine the framework of debate and engagement in favor of the nation that is able to deploy soft power. In the case of Taiwan, there are limits to how soft power can be used due to the lack of international recognition of its sovereignty and the existential threat from China. Still, Taiwan’s soft power has been deployed with increasing success over the years. Taiwan has won more and more recognition internationally, especially from like-minded countries. Taiwan’s gain has been more legitimacy and support in relation to its claim to exist as an autonomous territory under the status quo arrangement, but not for its independence. This paper analyzes Taiwan’s soft power resources and assesses their effectiveness by looking at Taiwan’s gains.

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