Performative Cultural Diplomacy Between Tuvalu and Taiwan

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Performative Cultural Diplomacy Between Tuvalu and Taiwan “[THEY] DANCED, AND, THEN, … IT WAS OUR TURN TO DANCE”: PERFORMATIVE CULTURAL DIPLOMACY BETWEEN TUVALU AND TAIWAN BY JESS MARINACCIO A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington (2019) Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and has not been submitted before to any institution for assessment purposes. To the best of my knowledge, this thesis contains no materials that have been written or published by other people. However, I have acknowledged all sources and have cited these in the References section. Any queries should be directed to [email protected]. This thesis contains five publishable papers for which I was the sole researcher and primary author. At the moment, part of Chapter 3 has been published by The Contemporary Pacific, and part of Chapter 2, part of Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 are currently or will soon be under review by ANU Press, Pacific Studies, Router: A Journal of Cultural Studies, and International Journal of Cultural Policy. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ................................................................................................................................. viii Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................. x Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 PROLOGUE ............................................................................................................................. 1 TUVALU, TAIWAN, AND A GENERAL ARGUMENT ................................................................. 3 A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ................................................................. 5 Research gaps .................................................................................................................... 5 Research justification......................................................................................................... 9 A Pacific Studies research framework ............................................................................. 10 Research questions and themes ....................................................................................... 13 A PRACTICAL OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ................................................................... 15 Case studies ..................................................................................................................... 16 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 21 Chapter outline ................................................................................................................ 26 Chapter 2: Rethinking Diplomacy and its Cultural, Social, and Political Contexts: The Diplomacies of Tuvalu, Taiwan’s Other Pacific Partners, and Taiwan ........................... 31 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 31 CURRENT RESEARCH ON DIPLOMACY AND ITS CULTURAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL CONTEXTS ........................................................................................................................... 32 THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF PACIFIC DIPLOMACIES IN TAIWAN: BARTERING/EXCHANGE, BUILDING FRIENDSHIPS, AND REINFORCING INTER-ISLAND RELATIONSHIPS ................................................................................................................... 34 “[For] us, diplomacy is not making friends with others”: Bartering/Exchange systems in Solomon Islands and PNG ........................................................................................... 36 “[Our] word for ‘diplomatic allies’ … is jimjera, [which] literally translates to ‘friendship’ ”: Building/Maintaining friendships in the Marshall Islands ...................... 38 “[If the people] visit another village, … it’s a big thing, … the chiefs have to be involved”: Properly building/reinforcing inter-island relationships in Kiribati and Palau ................................................................................................................................ 39 THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXTS OF TUVALUAN DIPLOMACY: COMMUNICATION/COOPERATION, NON-CONFRONTATION, HOSPITALITY, AND THE ALOFA .................................................................................................................................. 41 “[That’s] what I want for our foreign service: … to keep your Tuvaluan-ness, but to be also firm”: General and socio-cultural conceptions of diplomacy in Tuvalu ................. 42 “[That’s] what the alofa means. It … reinforces our ties”: Tuvalu’s socio-cultural conceptions of diplomacy and the alofa........................................................................... 44 “[It’s] also a strategic way for us to show our culture”: The alofa and Tuvalu’s international diplomacy ................................................................................................... 48 i THE SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXTS OF TAIWANESE DIPLOMACY: THE PRC, DIPLOMATIC (DIS)LOYALTY, AND THE QUALITY OF DIPLOMATIC ALLIES ............................................ 50 “Taiwan has a unique situation, which is the PRC”: The PRC and Taiwan’s disloyal allies ................................................................................................................................. 51 “[Our] allies can be described using three words: black, poor, small”: Aid, humanitarianism, and Taiwan’s low-quality allies ......................................................... 53 “[It] was widening the gap, you know, making us look very primitive”: Taiwan’s socio- political conceptions of diplomacy and presidential visits to Pacific allies .................... 56 THE AUSTRONESIAN CONTEXT OF TAIWANESE DIPLOMACY: (DE)CONSTRUCTING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH AUSTRONESIAN DIPLOMACY AND PACIFIC- INDIGENOUS TIES ................................................................................................................ 58 “This person isn’t Austronesian, but [her artwork is] extremely Pacific, extremely ocean”: Austronesian diplomacy and understandings of Austronesian in Taiwan ......... 59 “They say ‘Austronesian’ and ‘indigenous,’ and it’s all foreign concepts to me”: Tuvaluan/Pacific understandings of Austronesian diplomacy ........................................ 62 “They lead lazier lives.… [Maybe] that’s just the nature of the Austronesian people”: Marginalization of Pacific allies through Austronesian diplomacy ................................ 66 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 3: Reframing Diplomatic Relationships: Discursive Histories and Underlying Assumptions in Tuvalu-Taiwan Relations ........................................................................... 70 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 70 SHIFTING HISTORIES: OFFICIAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF TUVALU-TAIWAN RELATIONS FROM THE 1970S TO PRESENT............................................................................................. 71 Narrativizing Tuvalu-Taiwan relations: 1970s to 1980s ............................................... 73 “Drama on the High Seas—Taiwanese Boat Escapes”: Official narratives from Tuvalu .......................................................................................................................... 73 “Our expatriates are quite influential”: Official narratives from Taiwan.................. 77 Identifying self in Tuvalu-Taiwan relations: 2000 to present ....................................... 80 “Tuvalu is the oldest ally for Taiwan in the Pacific region. But our ties are much older than this”: Tuvalu’s official identifications of Taiwan ...................................... 81 “Tuvalu is the most peaceful country in the world”: Taiwan’s official identifications of Tuvalu ...................................................................................................................... 83 FROM OFFICIAL CONSTRUCTIONS TO SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVES: POPULAR DISCOURSE IN TUVALU-TAIWAN RELATIONS ........................................................................................ 87 Tuvalu: Divergent understandings of Taiwan’s local and international identities ..... 88 “[The delegation] enjoyed the warmth and kind hospitality of the Taiwanese people”: Representations of Taiwan in Tuvalu’s news media .................................................... 88 “I didn’t even know about Taiwan until I applied for the scholarship”: Popular imaginings of Taiwan in Tuvalu .................................................................................. 90 Taiwan: Mediating Tuvalu through considerations of climate change, ethnocentrism, and Taiwanese sovereignty ............................................................................................. 93 “[In] the next several years, Tuvalu will be unfit for human habitation”: Representations of Tuvalu in Taiwan’s news media .................................................... 94 “[The] Tuvaluans seemed like they didn’t
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