Funeral Diplomacy

Most of us have heard of "shuttle diplomacy", "ping-pong diplomacy" etc. But what about "funeral diplomacy"?

In 1974, under pressure from Beijing, Tokyo announced a plan to downgrade the privileges of Taiwan's China Airlines' operations in Japan. This meant that the Taiwanese flag could not be used, the airlines' name would be changed, and its aircrafts could not use airports servicing Chinese airliners.

Predictably, Taipei decried the changes as "insulting" and forbade air traffic between Taiwan and Japan.

But restoration of air links came soon enough - a year after in 1975. Known as "funeral diplomacy", the restoration was due to the deaths of Chiang Kai-shek and former Japanese Prime Minister Sato Eisaku.

But there was still a catch - Taiwan and Chinese aircrafts would not be on the ground at the same time.

You know, sometimes I think the cross-strait impasse is as much about theatrics as it is about politics.