Taiwan’s Democracy and Solidarity With Nicaragua’s Civil Society

In Nicaragua, the civic unrest that began a year ago still has not been resolved. As the conflict persists and the state becomes more dysfunctional, the international community is taking a more active role to influence the Nicaraguan government to address the protesters’ demands.

Taiwan, which counts Nicaragua as a crucial diplomatic partner, is also intricately involved with the conflict by providing financial support to the Nicaragua regime–contradicting the US and Europe, and perhaps even its own claim to democratic principles.

Taiwan’s role

The Azul y Blanco Movement came together after civil unrest against President Daniel Ortega turned into a mass movement against Ortega’s repression of civil society. On April 19, 2018, Nicaraguans protesters, mostly students, took to the streets over changes President Ortega made to the nation’s social security policies. The protesters were rounded up by the Nicaraguan National Police, and in less than three months there were at least 317 people killed. Until today, the number of deaths has increased and the number of political prisoners is more than 700.  

In recent weeks, Nicaraguan organizations leading the movement have raised concerns over Taiwan’s involvement with Nicaragua. Taiwan has made several payments, including loans and donations, to the Ortega regime over the years. According to El Nuevo Diario, in 2013 Nicaragua made an arrangement with the Taiwanese government to pay US$47 million dollars that had been accumulated from four past loans; on December 2018, the Taiwanese government donated US$700,000 to the Nicaraguan government earmarked for three public hospitals to keep a constant supply of energy. Moreover, according to El Nuevo Diario, Taiwan finances 27 projects in sectors of agriculture, cattle and other sector with a value ranging between $30 to 50 million. Taiwan also maintains a mutual agreement of tariff exemptions on different products such as shrimp, sugar, coffee, beef among others.

Donations made to the health sector, agreements that will benefit Taiwan and Nicaragua at the same time, and investments to the development of the Nicaraguan industry seem to be more beneficial to the Nicaraguan and Taiwanese societies. On the other hand, directly making loans to cover that public deficit serves the current Nicaraguan government to avoid international sanctions and bankruptcy, hence keeping the Ortega regime from collapsing.

Most recently in February, Taiwan made a US$100 million dollar loan to Nicaragua. According to Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee, “[Taiwan] decided to grant Nicaragua’s loan request for humanitarian reasons to support rebuilding projects in Nicaragua following the months-long unrest that damaged infrastructure in the country.”

Although the Nicaragua legislature approved of the loan, there is opposition. “Taking the loan is imprudent because by doing this, the country is submerging in more debt in the middle of a financial crisis,” stated the former Nicaraguan Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, Azucena Castillo. She added that “Nicaragua shouldn’t be incurring more debt. Nicaragua is about to reach $10,000 million on public debt.”

At odds with the US

Furthermore, Taiwan’s continuing financial support of the Ortega regime is at odds with the US. The US has been strongly advocating the end to the Ortega regime, by putting sanctioning financial help to Nicaragua and urging its allies to do so.

On a recent press release, The US Department of State called on the Ortega regime “to restore democratic order in Nicaragua and heed the calls of Nicaraguans clamoring for early free, fair, and transparent elections…We call on Nicaragua to unconditionally and fully release arbitrarily detained persons and protect the fundamental human rights of its citizens. We will continue to promote accountability for those who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for human rights and fomented violence in support of the Ortega regime.”

There is one geopolitical reason that the US is taking a strong line with Nicaragua: Chinese encroachment in the region. China has been actively courting the nations in the region via trade agreements and commercial bonds. With China is gaining more power in Latin America and the shift to a more conflicting US-China relationship, the US is becoming more vocal in Central American affairs.

When the government of El Salvador broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan, there was a strong response from the US and the Taiwanese government, calling Latin American countries to support democratic Taiwan instead of communist China. Soon afterwards, the newly elected administration of El Salvador under President Nayib Bukele has been reported to be rethinking the China-El Salvador relationship. Furthermore, a member of the Bukele administration, Federiko Anliker, said that “President-elect Nayib Bukele would not be willing to support a totalitarian government that oppresses its people and disrespects human rights.” The Bukele administration has been honoring its own words and recently decided not to extend an invitation to the leaders of Honduras, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the inauguration.

This change to a more democratic Salvadoran government could be good for Taiwan. Of course, if El Salvador reestablishes relations with Taiwan, that would be a big diplomatic win. More fundamentally, it would be an ally that shares values that form the core of Taiwan’s international brand–democracy, human rights, progressive social policies (like the recent same-sex marriage law). It will also help curb the influence of China in Central America, and be alligned with United States’ interests.

But all that is being undercut by Taiwan’s support for the Ortega regime, which goes against Taiwan’s own stated values as well as US policies. If the US takes up the issue with Taiwan, it would diminish the presence of Taiwan in the region as well as add an element of instability to an otherwise very close US-Taiwan relationship.

Civil society in Taiwan and Nicaragua

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson also said that the latest $100 million dollar loan is given “to President Daniel Ortega’s government, which has become increasingly isolated after a brutal crackdown on protesters last year.”

The Tsai Administration clearly understands that the Ortega regime has brutally cracked down on its own people, and the crackdown is the reason why Nicaragua is being sanctioned. It is knowingly supporting a regime accused of gross human rights violations.

On the other hand, the people of Taiwan clearly understand what is to fight a dictatorship and gain freedom, defend human rights of their society, and obtain democracy.

In the article titled “40 Years of Diverging Trajectories: Examining the Taiwan Relations Act and Human Rights,” the author Jenny Wang cites the Kaohsiung Incident as a “movement that propelled Taiwan towards the liberal democracy it is today… In 1979, on Human Rights Day, a peaceful protest took place in Taiwan, calling for human rights and freedom. It was met with police crackdown and leaders of the protest were arrested and tried in military court.”

A more recent example on how the Taiwanese society has united its voice for a common goal and exercised its right of freedom of speech is the Sunflower Movement. A recent exposition of photos from this event shows that belief in democracy and respect for human rights were the foundations of the protests. The police and the Taiwanese protesters tried to maintain certain prudence because in the end they were voicing out for a common goal which is “to keep their democracy alive.”

One common characteristic of this protest and the recent Nicaraguan protests is how the youth is determined to impact the outcome. The way the youth in both countries have been able to use technology and social media to communicate in spontaneous yet effective ways is equally impressive. In both events, students were exercising their right to protest, but the outcome was very different. In Taiwan the protests successfully blocked the trade deal with China, and in less than two years a new administration was voted in. In comparison, the recent protests in Nicaragua has already led to hundreds of deaths with no end in sight.

Taiwan endured a period of time when that was possible–think Cheng Nan-jung, who resisted arrest by burning himself alive, to fight for freedom of speech. Because of their bravery, the Taiwanese people can affect outcomes through peaceful protests and even normal, legal elections.

What if Taiwanese students were still killed by the National Police, or someone selling food on the streets arrested for no reason? This is what has been happening in Nicaragua for the past year.

The peoples of these two countries should understand their relationship more deeply and sympathize with the other’s own struggles. If the people of Taiwan were more informed on what is happening to the countries that are supposed to be their friends in the world, the response of the Taiwanese government on the loan would not be the same. As for Nicaraguans, they can learn a lot from the history of the Taiwanese civil society and its fight to become a democratic nation.

#SOSNicaraguaGlobal, a group of Nicaraguans abroad, has started to send letters to the Taiwan’s representative offices around the world, including the embassy of the R.O.C (Taiwan) in Nicaragua. A member of #SOSNicaraguaGlobal, Adolfo Chavez, said in an interview that the letters aim to persuade the Taiwanese government to freeze all past and future donations.

If Taiwan preaches democracy, then the most logical thing to do is to stop directly financing the government of Daniel Ortega. Taiwan should wait until democracy has been reestablished in Nicaragua to continue normal interactions. And as a country that has experienced democratic change only in recent memory, as President Tsai Ing-wen calls for the support of the international community to help Taiwan defend its democracy, Taiwan should act like the “beacon” as which it sees itself.

(Feature photo by Jorge Mejía Peralta)