Taiwan should stop giving financial aid to Nicaragua because its government is too corrupt, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was told yesterday.
This was the gist of a surprisingly frank briefing of the president by Taiwan's ambassador to Nicaragua, Antonio Tsai (
In a statement to the media distributed during the briefing, Tsai said Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman is being heavily criticized both internationally and domestically for corruption and misappropriation of foreign funds.
The Aleman administration is said to be lacking transparency and planning in distributing foreign aid. Taiwan's role in providing financial assistance to Nicaragua, such as financing the rebuilding of the Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has evoked criticism from other countries.
"European countries and the US have criticized Taiwan for the way we administer foreign aid," Tsai said, adding that countries including the US, Canada and Japan have temporarily halted some of their assistance to Nicaragua because of Aleman's alleged corruption.
"Under these circumstances, the Nicaraguan government will be increasingly reliant on aid from Taiwan," he said.
Tsai warned that facing such international criticism, "our government should reconsider similar assistance projects in the future."
The ambassador also openly criticized the strong influence of labor unions and the "unprofessional" media in Nicaragua, while calling the country's president a "dictator."
Tsai's frankness appeared to catch everyone -- including the president -- off guard.
Speaking after Tsai's briefing, Chen half-jokingly said "the briefing may not put many of us in a good mood," before stressing that Taiwan would continue to assist Nicaragua and honor all existing agreements made by the previous government.
"When there are things which God cannot complete, humans should help," Chen said, adding that fate has not been kind to the people of Nicaragua, a country which has undergone 50 years of dictatorship and 11 years of civil war, as well as frequent natural disasters.
"[Taiwan's] new government will respect all the agreements, cooperation projects, loans and assistance projects which were made by the previous administration. We will not make any exceptions or revisions," he said.
"No matter how rich our country and people are, I believe we will regret it if we, as a sovereign country, do not have dignity, are not respected in the international community or cannot play a role on the international stage," Chen said.
He emphasized the importance of support from diplomatic allies in pushing for Taiwan's participation in international organizations.
"Who will speak out in support of us if we want to join the UN or the WHO? It's not ourselves but leaders like President Aleman and former Nicaraguan President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro," Chen said.
The briefing was originally closed to the press, but the ambassador later agreed to allow reporters to attend the meeting.
Even Chen's close aides said they were surprised by Tsai's direct comments during the briefing.
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