上個月，由政府支持的智庫「台灣亞洲交流基金會」主辦的年度玉山論壇舉行。
如往常一樣，日本政壇人士、「日華議員懇談會」會長古屋圭司眾議員是重要來賓。然而，日本並非新南向政策國家，而古屋圭司也早已多次出席玉山論壇，包括2025、2023、2022、2021、2020、2019與2018年。
波蘭前總統華勒沙亦為重要來賓，儘管他過去已多次訪問台灣。華勒沙因領導反對波蘭共產政權的「團結工聯」，獲得諾貝爾和平獎，並推動終結共產獨裁、轉型民主而聞名，是一位歷史性人物。
然而，華勒沙與現任波蘭保守派總統納夫羅茨基是政治對手，而後者在波蘭外交政策的制定中具有重要地位。華勒沙甚至拒絕出席該總統的就職典禮，並稱其為一場可恥的鬧劇。
近年來，台灣致力於深化與波蘭的關係，因此在此時邀請現任總統的政治對手訪台，顯得頗為奇怪。
2024年美國總統大選前，華勒沙在臉書發文表示，川普的勝利對世界來說將是一場「不幸」。在川普當選後，華勒沙接受訪問說川普的勝利「對美國和世界來說都是不幸的」。台灣政府不是很想獲得川普的支持嗎？在台灣亟欲改善與川普政府關係之際，邀請一位著名的反川普人士來台，同樣令人費解。
華勒沙在玉山論壇上表示，台灣應在中國人民的統一中發揮領導作用，這恐怕也不是賴政府希望外國訪賓傳達的訊息。
另一位重要來賓是立陶宛前國防部長薩卡利埃內。然而，現任立陶宛總理魯吉尼涅於去年10月將她解職，並向媒體表示，原因包括不誠實、完全缺乏合作意願，以及糟糕的團隊管理能力。
近期，魯吉尼涅總理也公開質疑前政府允許台灣以「台灣代表處」而非「台北經濟文化辦事處」名義設處的決定，並批評台灣承諾的2億美元投資尚未實現，對立陶宛缺乏實質利益。
在台立關係如此敏感之際，台灣卻邀請總理的政治對手訪台，亦屬不尋常。
菲律賓前副總統羅貝多同樣是重要來賓。2016年她與小馬可仕競選副總統並勝出，但小馬可仕對選舉結果提出司法挑戰；2022年兩人再度對決總統大選，這次則由小馬可仕輕鬆勝出。儘管兩人都與前總統杜特蒂及其女兒（現任副總統）莎拉‧杜特蒂存在對立，但羅貝多與小馬可仕彼此亦是政治敵手。
在台灣希望強化與菲律賓關係之際，邀請羅貝多訪台，只會激怒現任總統小馬可仕。
斐濟前總理喬馬漢亦為來賓之一，但他僅在1999至2000年間擔任總理一年，且斐濟對台灣並無戰略重要性。
上述來賓延續了玉山論壇偏好邀請「前任官員」的慣例，而這些人往往是現任執政者的政治對手。某國若由中左派執政，論壇常邀請中右派人士；反之亦然。
對於如菲律賓與泰國這類政治並非左右分野的國家，論壇則傾向邀請與當權者對立的政治人物。
至於玉山論壇的未來，改善建議如下：
1、停止強調與新南向政策的連結：與會來賓及討論議題早已偏離新南向政策的重點與目標國，或許應直接定位為台灣整體外交政策論壇。
2、重新聚焦新南向國家：若仍欲維持新南向主軸，則不應邀請過多非目標國家的講者。今年論壇有大量歐洲來賓，對於一個不以歐洲為重點的活動而言顯得奇怪。
3、簡化活動規模：論壇似乎重數量而輕品質。兩天議程中講者過多、場次過多且主題不清。政府亦常強調外賓人數與國家數量，但其中部分人士可能本就在台，例如駐台外交人員或在台學者。
4、更換台灣亞洲交流基金會領導層：讀者可自行查詢該基金會長期由相同人士主導，也許已到需要改變的時候。
5、取消玉山論壇：或許此活動已難以挽救，納稅人不必再負擔政府與基金會為其投入的大量經費。
作者也明白，上述評論很可能讓他無緣受邀參加2027年的玉山論壇。
玉山論壇數週後，台灣政府似乎再度重演「重數量、輕品質」的作法，接待一個由四名美國參議員組成的訪問團。來自新罕布夏州的民主黨參議員夏欣，為參議院外交委員會少數黨首席成員，但她將於今年底退休，且作為民主黨人，對川普政府外交政策影響有限。訪團中資深共和黨參議員提里斯（北卡羅來納州）同樣將於今年退休，且與川普關係不佳，這也是他不再尋求連任的重要原因之一。
換言之，提里斯是川普的政治對手，歡迎他訪台只會惹惱白宮。
因此，該訪團中有兩位參議員即將退休、且對川普政府影響力有限，此行看來更像是利用納稅人資源進行的「告別巡迴」（從社群媒體照片來看，他們的配偶似乎也同行）。
另外兩位參議員分別為溫和派共和黨人匡希恆（猶他州）與民主黨人羅森（內華達州），兩人對川普政府外交政策同樣缺乏影響力。訪團會見了賴總統，外交部也透過社群媒體大力宣傳，包括記者會與用餐影片。
或許台灣應該對此訪團說一句「謝謝，但不必了」，並以賴清德總統行程繁忙為由，婉拒其訪問。
重數量而輕品質，無助於提升台灣的對外關係。
（作者為美國共和黨海外部前亞太區主席）
Taiwan’s Foreign VIPs, Quantity Over Quality?
By Ross Darrell Feingold
Former Asia Chairman, Republicans Abroad
X: @RossFeingold
Last month, the annual Yushan Forum was held, organized by the government supported think tank, the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation.
As usual, a prominent guest was a politician from Japan, Furuya Keiji, a House of Representatives Member and the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council Chairman. However, Japan is not a New Southbound Policy country, and Furuya was a prominent guest at previous Yushan Forums, including in 2025, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018.
Former Poland President Lech Walesa was a prominent guest, even though Walesa has previously visited Taiwan many times before. Walesa is known for his role as leader of the “Solidary” labor union that opposed Poland’s communist government, winning a Nobel Peace Prize, and negotiating to end the communist dictatorship and a transition to democracy. All of which makes Walesa a historic figure.
However, Walesa is the political enemy of Poland current conservative President Karol Nawrocki, who has an important role in formulating Poland’s foreign policy. Walesa refused to attend the president’s inauguration, and called it a scandalous spectacle.
In recent years, Taiwan has sought closer relations with Poland. Thus, inviting to Taiwan a political enemy of Poland’s current president is an odd choice.
In addition, prior to the 2024 United States presidential election, Walesa said a Trump victory would be a misfortune for the world, and after Trump won the election, Walesa said Trump’s victory is a disgrace.
As Taiwan desperately wants a better relationship with the Trump administration, inviting a famous Trump critic to Taiwan is also an odd choice!
Walesa said at the Yushan Forum that Taiwan should have leadership in the unification of the Chinese people, which is probably not a message that the Lai administration wants a foreign visitor to say.
Another prominent Yushan Forum guest was Dovile Šakalienė, the former defense minister of Lithuania. Current Lithuania Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene fired Šakalienė in October of last year. Ruginienė told the media that dishonesty, a complete lack of willingness to cooperate and poor team management were reasons for why Šakalienė was fired.
Recently, Prime Minister Ruginiene has publicly expressed her doubts about the previous Lithuania government’s decision to allow Taiwan to open a representative office using the name “Taiwanese Representative Office” rather than “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office”, and questioned the lack of benefits for Lithuania especially as Taiwan’s promised investment in Lithuania of USD200,000,000 has not occurred yet.
It is unusual that at this sensitive time in Taiwan - Lithuania relations, Taiwan would invite a political enemy of Prime Minister Ruginiene to Taiwan.
Former Philippines Vice President Leni Robredo was also a prominent Yushan Forum guest. In 2016, Robredo ran for vice president against Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. Although Robredo won, Marcos challenged the result in court, alleging election irregularities. In 2022, Robredo ran against Marcos for president, but this time, Marcos easily won the presidential election. Although both Marcos and Robredo are political enemies of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter (the current vice president) Sara Duterte, Robredo and Marcos are also political enemies of each other.
Inviting Robredo to Taiwan at a time when Taiwan wants to have a better relationship with the Philippines will only anger President Marcos.
Fiji’s former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry was a prominent guest too. However, he served as Prime Minister for only one year from 1999 to 2000, and anyway, Fiji is not strategically important to Taiwan.
The above mentioned guests continues the habit of the Yushan Forum of inviting “former” officeholders. Often, these office holders are the political opponents of those who are in power. If the left-of-center is in power in a country, the Yushan Forum tends to have guests from the right-of-center, and when the left-of-center is in power, the Yushan Forum tends to have guests from the right-of-center.
For other countries such as Philippines and Thailand that have politics which is not based on a “left/right” divide, the Yushan Forum has had guests who are the political enemies of whoever is in power at the time.
As for the Yushan Forum’s future, suggestions to improve it include:
1. Stop Claiming a Connection to the New Southbound Policy: The attendees who are invited from overseas, and the topics discussed, have long since departed from a focus on the New Southbound Policy and the countries that are the target of the New Southbound Policy. Perhaps the focus should simply be changed to Taiwan’s foreign policy in general.
2. Refocus on New Southbound Policy Countries: If the organizers really do want an event focused on Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, the attendees should not include so many speakers from non-New Southbound Policy countries. There were many guests from Europe at this year’s Yushan Forum, which is odd for an event that is not supposed to focus on Europe.
3. Simplify the Event: The event seems to priorities quantity over quality. The Yushan Forum is two days, has too many speakers, and too many panels with unclear topics. The Taiwan government also likes to cite how many foreign attendees participated and how many countries they came from, though it is unclear if some of those persons were already in Taiwan such as diplomats posted to Taiwan or foreign scholars currently living in Taiwan.
4. Replace the Leadership of the Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation: Readers can check for themselves how long the same individuals have led the Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation. Perhaps it is time for a change?
5. Cancel the Yushan Forum. It could simply be that this event is beyond repair, and the taxpayers would be better off without the Taiwan government and Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation spending an extraordinary amount of money on it.
This author realizes that the above comments will likely result in no invitation to the 2027 Yushan Forum.
Weeks after the Yushan Forum, the Taiwan government appears to have repeated the same “quantity over quality” approach, when a delegation of four United States Senators visited Taiwan.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat of New Hampshire) is the “ranking member” (leader of the minority party) on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but she is retiring at the end of this year. As a Democrat, Shaheen has little influence over the foreign policy of the Trump administration. The senior Republican senator in the delegation was Thom Tillis (Republican of North Carolina), who is also retiring at the end of this year. Senator Tillis is known for his poor relationship with President Trump, which was a significant factor in Senator Tillis’ decision not to seek re-election this year.
In other words, Tillis is a political enemy of President Trump. Welcoming him to Taiwan will only anger the White House.
Thus, two of the senators on this delegation are not influential with the Trump administration and are retiring, and this visit appears like a “farewell tour” for them using taxpayer money (from the photos shared on social media, it appears their spouses also joined the trip).
The other two senators on the trip were a moderate Republican, John Curtis (Republican of Utah) and Jacky Rosen (Democrat of Nevada), neither of whom have influence over the Trump administration’s foreign policy. The delegation met with President Lai, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs celebrated their visit with posts on social media, including a video of their press conference and a video of the senators eating lunch.
Perhaps Taiwan should have said “Thank you but no thank you” to this delegation, and could have cited President William Lai’s busy schedule as a reason why it was inconvenient for the senators to visit?
Quantity over quality does not improve Taiwan’s foreign relations.
