Cat Warrior Diplomats and Star Trek Ministers: Taiwan’s Cute Power Playbook
When Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was appointed Taiwan’s top envoy to the U.S., she described herself as a “cat warrior,” drawing contrast with the “wolf warrior diplomats” of China. She’s also bringing her four cats to Washington, of course. Aww.
When Digital Minister Audrey Tang (唐鳳) went on CNN, she flashed a “live long and prosper” sign before launching into how Taiwan managed to successfully contain the COVID-19 outbreak with no lockdowns by leveraging technology and trusting citizens. It’s adorable.
Idiosyncratic gestures? Or a tactic to create space internationally by building goodwill? Why not both? Both at home and abroad, Taiwanese politicians are increasingly deploying an unusual weapon in their political arsenal: cuteness.
I used to have a little game for myself where I came up with compact definitions of words that ignores the literal meaning or etymology but is the fastest way to arrive at what I think of as the crux of the word, like an MRT goes straight to the heart of a location without dealing with Taipei traffic. For instance, justice = love x impartiality.
The definition I came up for “cuteness” was, if you had two things that are the same, but one is big and one is small, the small one is “cute”. There is something cute about compactness, but it must also be complete. A chunk of wood is not cute. A bonsai is cute.
If you had two things that are the same, but one is big and one is small, the small one is “cute.”
There is something very cute about Taiwan. It’s very small, but also very complete. Perhaps unsurprisingly, people are obsessed with cuteness in culture here. A good index for how obsessed is the sale of Line stickers, which is basically an industrial ecosystem for highly customized emoticons you can use on the chat app Line. The average Taiwanese buys 18 sets a year and they are used quite often even in professional communications.
The other day, I was procrastinating on my stories when another reporter in the press room howled (adorably) “no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!” and literally stomped his feet. This adult man did little tappity-taps like a thumping bunny. “My editor just made me write another story! Now I’ll never get out of here by 7:30p.m. and I’ll miss my movie!”
A full round of ritualistic complaints about the unreasonableness of editors as a species was launched. I think the ritualistic complaints might have taken more time than writing the story, which he tapped out in 15 minutes and headed out at 7:25p.m., after showing off the extensive capabilities of his new Sony clip-on camera. This reporter is very cute.
I’m aware of the importance of being cute. Performing cuteness is a way of showing others your authenticity without taking up too much space. Or, as Envoy Hsiao puts it, ¨Navigating complicated and turbulent waters, the Cat Warrior finds survival space in difficult conditions.”
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) herself is hardly shy about weaponizing cuteness politically. Pictures of her two cats and three rescued dogs regularly grace her Facebook, where aides say they garner 50% more “likes” than posts on political issues.
Taiwanese YouTuber Potter King came to prominence with a series of “Flirting with…” videos, where he tries on increasingly cringe-worthy pick-up lines on unsuspecting subjects to great comic effect. When the presidential office called to suggest a collaboration in the run-up to the 2020 Taiwanese presidential elections, Potter King had just one condition: “I’m going to mack on the president!”
The video quickly went viral. The response from China was just as swift. Papitube, Potter King’s Chinese media partner, dropped the Taiwanese YouTuber for referring to Tsai as “the president of Taiwan.” China, of course, do not consider Taiwan to be an independent country.
President Tsai came to the defense of Potter King with a wry comment: “We are a free and democratic society. If you can’t even flirt with the president of Taiwan a little on video, that’s contrary to our cherished democratic values.”
If you can’t flirt with the president of Taiwan…that’s against our democratic values
The opposition KMT candidate for the presidency, Han Guo-yu (韓國瑜) came up with a much more staid response, making a profit-driven appeal to Papitube. “Please don’t let Potter King’s interview of the Taiwanese president end up causing economic loss!”
Tsai won the election in a landslide.
There is another side to Taiwan’s Cute Power playbook. In addition to meaning “endearing”, being “cute” can also mean being clever or cunning, often to the point of impertinence. On the international stage, Taiwan is trying to be very cute in both senses of the word. The island nation is being cute in the sense of trying to be lovable with the Taiwan can Help campaign. But it is also trying to be cute in the sense of trying to create more space for itself on the sly, with economic ties often being used as cover for strengthening its presence on the international stage.
When things other countries take for granted like international recognition of existence is out of reach, Cute Power becomes a cover for Taiwan to assert its presence while signalling that it is well aware of boundaries it must not cross.
Speaking to Bloomberg, China expert Jonathan Sullivan said “Taiwan has become more and more adept at finding space behind the ‘red lines’”
Taiwan has become more and more adept at finding space behind the red lines.
When Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu is asked by NPR whether Taiwan is seeking formal relations with the US, he politely demurs, “not right now.” However, when China sent threatening letters to Indian media outlets for openly recognizing Taiwan’s national day celebrations, Wu didn’t mince words on Twitter, in effect telling China to “GET LOST!”
The more irritated and belligerent Beijing becomes, the better this strategy works. By maintaining disciplined control when unprovoked but cheekily striking back only when China acts like a bully, Taiwan maximizes goodwill in the eyes of potential allies.
When Czech senate president Miloš Vystrčil led a trade delegation to Taiwan, Beijing went ballistic. Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) described Vystrčil’s visit as a “provocation” and said the senate president “would pay a heavy price.” This lead German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas to issue a rebuke on the spot, saying “Threat have no place here [in Europe]” while Wang stood awkwardly in an adjacent podium.
In Chinese, “cute” , or “ke-ai” (可愛), literally means “possible to love.” The more Beijing attempts to flex its military and economic muscles, the less lovable it appears. The contrast makes the orderly and democratic Taiwan all the more possible to love.
In a turbulent year, Taiwan has managed not just to survive, but thrive. Having received global praise for its swift and adept response to COVID-19, Taiwan went on to see export surge on strong demand for electronic equipment for the Work from Home trend. Even the disastrous Trump presidency wound up being a windfall.
Taiwan has been the beneficiary of Trump’s rabid anti-China tear. Tariffs on Chinese-made goods made Taiwanese products more competitive, driving orders and investment. Diplomatically, Undersecretary of State Keith Krach visited the island in September, the highest-ranking official to visit Taiwan since diplomatic relations were severed with the US in 1979.
Taiwan has also been beefing up its military with sophisticated US equipment such as the MQ-9 drones. The goal is to turn Taiwan into a “porcupine nation” militarily, increasing the cost of any potential Chinese invasion. “Lions don’t like to eat porcupines,” said US National Security Advisor, Robert O’Brien.
But as the US election looms with the likelihood of a Biden administration, it’s an open question how much of Taipei’s gains will be rolled back. Meanwhile, Chinese fighter jets are now regularly breaching the median line of the Taiwan straits, forcing Taiwan’s Air Force to scramble.
. . .
Behind the spunkiness and the emojis, to live in Taiwan is to tolerate the background hum of of an unlikely yet existential threat.
“If you get an email from the AIT saying it’s time for US citizens to get out of Taiwan, please let me know,” said the reporter with the stompy feet, “It’s not like I can go anywhere, but if there’s an invasion coming, I’d like to make sure I’m stocked up on ramen.”
The opposition KMT should be the natural political force to help “apply the brakes” to any threat of cross-straits overheating. But the party has been floundering and rapidly diminishing in importance as a credible force. In the latest own-goal, the KMT probably blew its remaining chance to be a mediating force between Taiwan and China on a stunt vote. Meanwhile, calls from Tsai herself for “meaningful talks” with China was unceremoniously rebuffed.
Taiwan has done a great job of presenting itself as a lovable nation, one that is surely deserving of a greater role on the global stage. But all the goodwill in the world cannot answer the question — what would the world do if Chinese fighter jets crosses the median line…and then kept flying.
Angelica Oung is a business desk reporter with the Taipei Times. She covers Renewable Energy, 5G, Smart Manufacturing, Downstream Tech and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. She can be contacted at angelica.oung@gmail.com
