最近在經濟日報上讀到一篇報導，關於航空產業的，提到因為交易採購金額非常大，所以這樣的國際大型採購案和國與國之間的外交會有相關聯性，有時候不單單只是表面上的需求，還有政治的意涵在裡面。

記得老一輩提過當年台茶在外銷的時候，佔出口總值一半以上，相當於現在的科技產業；而茶商的地位，等同於報導中航空業現在的地位，「喬」事情會透過茶商貿易的關係，去搓合一些「檯面下」的事情，也有因為沒有邦交國的關係，所以透過民間的管道，讓「不能說的秘密」可以順利的進行。

茶葉經過一段蕭條的時間，最近十幾年又重回到整國際市場上的主流，現在時常有外交部、交通部觀光局會帶外賓來參訪有記名茶，我們會用英文導覽解說，讓外國人可以對台灣茶的歷史、文化、製作、分類上有更近一步的了解，茶不單單只是品而已，也是人與人交流的一個溝通媒介，有時候重點放在過程多過於結果，透過這樣的交流，傳達彼此更深沈的意念與想法，這也算是茶葉外交的一種吧！

Read an article on a news paper, 經濟日報, which was talking about aviation industry, saying that the numbers in the deal were enormous so sometimes the international purchasing is not only trading purpose but also diplomatic concerns.

The older generation has talked about how good the Taiwan tea industry was back then, which was more than 50% of exportation value, equal to the technology industry now. The value of tea business men was like the aviation industry now. Can you even imagine that? The government would try to "make things right" through the tea business men because "the things" should be under table and sometimes often because Taiwan did not have the relationship with those countries. It was easier for the governments to cooperate with each other through NGO. 

There was a down time for the tea business in Taiwan but we can proudly saying that tea is back on track now recently. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan would bring some guests to Taipei WangTea (有記名茶), and we are always introducing the tea history, culture, process, and categorizing to them so that those guests could know more about us. Tea is not just for drinking but also a way to communicate with each others. Moreover, sometimes the communication while brewing tea is more important than the cup of tea we drink. It is kind of "Tea diplomacy."

2016/12/14 經濟日報