Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui last month visited Taiwan’s Latin American allies in a bid to cement relations amid rumors that some could sever diplomatic ties with Taipei, a source familiar with the issue said.
After the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress in October last year, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu said there were “signs” and intelligence suggesting that a few allies might consider cutting ties with Taiwan.
Paraguayan opposition party presidential candidate Efrain Alegrehas has said that his country would cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China if he wins an election scheduled for April.
Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez in September last year asked Taipei to invest US$1 billion in the country to maintain diplomatic ties, as it would help him resist pressure from Beijing to switch diplomatic recognition.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said she would consider severing ties with Taiwan during an election campaign in November 2021. Although Paraguay continued to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan after Castro was elected, Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina said “we are maintaining a fluid relationship.”
Reina on Jan. 1 met with Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Xie Feng to discuss trade issues, and former Honduran president Jose Manuel Zelaya — Castro’s husband — advocated for ties with Beijing.
The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit is to be held in Argentina on Tuesday next week. US and Chinese leaders have also been invited.
Some political watchers have said that if Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the summit, he might interact with Castro, who has confirmed her attendance.
Due to China’s attempts to convince Taiwan’s allies to switch official recognition to Beijing, Taipei has 14 diplomatic allies: the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu in the Pacific; Eswatini in Africa; the Holy See in Europe; Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Paraguay in Latin America, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean.
Four of the eight countries that severed ties with Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016 are Latin American countries: Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Taipei’s relations with many of the region’s allies remain healthy, political watchers have said, and leaders from allies in Central America and the Caribbean visited Taiwan last year.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves was the first head of state to visit Taipei to show his support after China conducted military drills around Taiwan in August last year.
Belizean Prime Minister John Briceno has had frequent interactions with high-level officials in Taiwan, and led a delegation to Taiwan in March last year.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has openly supported Taiwan many times and has invited Tsai to cohost a planned summit of states that maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei.
Haiti continues to engage in bilateral cooperation projects with Taiwan and has spoken out for the country at the UN. (https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2023/01/17/2003792746)
