Dominium Inter Ruinas: The Transformation of the 2024 Hualien Earthquake into an Identity Perception and Conflict of Sovereignty

Abstract

This study offers a comparative analysis of the attitudes and diplomatic activities of Japan and China toward Taiwan after the 2024 Hualien earthquake. The central motivation behind the study is to question the conditions under which disaster diplomacy succeeds and those under which it falls short. Although the disaster diplomacy literature suggests that natural disasters carry a potential for cooperation and rapprochement between parties, the question of why this potential materialises in certain contexts while remaining limited in others has not been sufficiently addressed. This study seeks to fill that gap by re-examining disaster diplomacy through the lens of identity perception and a social constructivist approach. The study applies a qualitative comparative analysis method. Within this framework, the post-disaster discourses, diplomatic initiatives, and aid practices of Japan and China are examined. The findings indicate that the success of disaster diplomacy is closely tied to how the recipient actor is defined and perceived, irrespective of the material capacity or scale of the aid provided. While Japan's disaster diplomacy toward Taiwan further strengthened the already positive relations between the two countries, China's disaster diplomacy and humanitarian assistance process deepened the already strained ties. China's initiatives were not perceived as goodwill gestures by Taiwan; on the contrary, they were regarded as concealing ulterior motives. Accordingly, the study demonstrates that disaster diplomacy is by no means an apolitical process and that it can, in fact, reproduce existing disputes over identity, status, and sovereignty.

Keywords

• Disaster Diplomacy
• Taiwan
• Hualien Earthquake
• Identity Perception
• Sovereignty
• Japan-Taiwan Relations
• China-Taiwan Tensions

Dominium Inter Ruinas: 2024 Hualien Depremi'nin "Kimlik Algılaması" ve "Egemenlik Savaşı"na Dönüşümü

Abstract

Bu çalışma, 2024 yılında Tayvan'ın Hualien kentinde meydana gelen depremin ardından Japonya ve Çin'in Tayvan'a yönelik tutumlarını ve diplomatik faaliyetlerini karşılaştırmalı olarak analiz etmektedir. Çalışmanın temel motivasyonu, afet diplomasisinin hangi koşullar altında başarılı olduğunu hangi koşullarda ise başarısız olduğunu sorgulamaktır. Afet diplomasisi literatürü, doğal afetlerin taraflar arasında işbirliği ve yumuşama potansiyeli taşıdığını öne sürse de, bu potansiyelin neden bazı bağlamlarda gerçekleştiği, bazılarında ise sınırlı kaldığı sorusu literetürde yeterince ele alınmamştır. Bu çalışma, söz konusu boşluğu doldurmak amacıyla afet diplomasisini kimlik algılaması ve sosyal inşaacı bir yaklaşımla yeniden ele almayı amaçlamıştır. Çalışmada, nitel karşılaştırmalı analiz yöntemi esas alınmıştır. Buna kapsamda Japonya ile Çin'in afet sonrası söylemleri, diplomatik girişimleri ve yardım pratikleri incelenmiştir. Buna göre afet diplomasisinin başarısı yardımların maddi kapasitesinden ve boyutunda bağımsız olarak yardımın yöneltildiği aktörün nasıl tanımlandığı ve algılandığıyla yakından ilişkili olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Japonya'nın Tayvan'a yönelik afet diplomasisi halihazırda iyi olan iki ülke arasındaki ilişkileri daha da güçlendirirken; Çin'in Tayvan'a yönelik afet diplomasisi ve insani yardım süreci ise halihazırda bozuk olan ilişkileri daha da germiştir. Çin'in afet diplomasisi ve girişimleri Tayvan tarafından iyi niyetle algılanmamış; aksine Çin'in diplomatik faaliyetlerinin ardında art niyetli olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Buna göre afet diplomasisinin, apolitik bir süreç olmadığı ve mevcut kimlik, statü ve egemenlik tartışmalarını yeniden üretebildiğini göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Afet Diplomasisi
• Tayvan
• Hualien Depremi
• Kimlik Algılaması
• Egemenlik
• Japonya-Tayvan İlişkileri
• Çin-Tayvan Gerilimi.

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