民主和平理論是國際關係學界中重要的理論。民主國家之間基於民主的價值故而不彼此交戰，這不適用於非民主國家之間。此一論點引起許多論爭，正反意見分呈，各種討論也擴及西方不同時期許多案例，但鮮少以東方的案例加以研究。於此，2013年發生的台菲漁業衝突事件，就是一個可用來檢證民主和平理論的東方案例。臺灣與菲律賓都是民主國家，2013年五月間菲律賓軍人射殺臺灣非武裝漁民，引發緊張局勢，我國政府甚至派遣艦艇武力護漁，衝突隨時均有升高之勢，但最後卻和平落幕。究竟，從事件起始、武力展示、到事件逐漸平息，民主和平理論是否從中獲得驗證？民主價值是否為化解衝突的關鍵？這是本文所欲探究之問題。 Democratic Peace Theory holds that democratic states do not fight with each other because of their shared liberal values. This argument is highly controversial among the academics and was only tested quantitatively but has yet been tested qualitatively by none-western cases. This article fills this gap by studying the 2013 fisheries conflict between Taiwan and Philippine. In this incident, one Taiwanese fisherman was killed by Philipino cost guards in the overlapping EEZ claimed by both Taiwan and Philippines, and Taiwan responded by sending warships to the disputed waters. Finally, the Philippines accepted Taiwan's term and the conflict concluded without a fight. Is democratic value helps to resolve this conflict peacefully? In the end, this article finds little evidence to support Democratic Peace Theory.
