The Presidential Office yesterday hailed President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) proposed “diplomatic truce” with Beijing, saying if it were not for Ma’s initiative, Beijing might have snatched away Taiwan’s diplomatic ally Paraguay.
A senior Presidential Office official, who requested anonymity, said the main difference between Ma’s foreign policy and that of the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government was that the DPP could not resolve the source of the problem: cross-strait relations.
“The DPP government secured three new diplomatic allies, but lost nine,” he said. “While the DPP administration cared a lot about the number of diplomatic allies, it lost more than it added.”
The official said Ma’s proposal offered another option — that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should refrain from poaching each other’s allies and use their limited resources on more meaningful issues.
“If we don’t get any friendly response, we can always go back to the old approach. But do we really want to do that, taking into account the difficult situation we are in?” the official said.
There was no formula or indicator to gauge whether Beijing has offered sufficient goodwill, he said, but cross-strait relations are developing in a stable direction.
The remarks came in response to a report in the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday that said Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo had said his government would change its Taiwan policy and no longer vote in favor of Taiwan’s UN bid.
The official said what Lugo was quoted as saying would never happen, because the UN has never voted on Taiwan’s UN application since Taipei began reapplying in 1993. Nor would Lugo’s comment have any impact on this bid or have a domino effect on other allies, he said.
In addition, Lugo did not say Paraguay would switch ties to Beijing, so bilateral ties are apparently strong and Lugo’s reported comments should not be seen as a sign that bilateral ties would be cut, the official said.
An Associated Press (AP) report quoted Lugo, who was inaugurated just two weeks ago, as saying in a TV interview on Sunday night that Paraguay would forgo its support for Taiwan’s UN bid this year.
“We will no longer vote [at the UN] for Taiwan despite the fact we recognize the aid the country has provided,” the AP quoted Lugo as saying, adding that he wanted to maintain diplomatic relations with all countries of similar interest.
“Paraguay’s foreign policy will be independent under my government and will not accept conditions,” Lugo was quoted as saying.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday that relations with Paraguay remain stable. The Paraguayan embassy told the Taipei Times that it had not received any information to the contrary from Asuncion.
Lugo’s remarks, said Simon Ko (柯森耀), head of the ministry’s Department of Central and South American Affairs, “should not be taken as an indication of Taiwan’s ties with Paraguay.”
Lugo has on many occasions promised the alliance would continue to grow under his leadership, Ko said.
Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said many of Taiwan’s allies had not supported Taiwan’s UN bid in the past, but remained loyal to Taipei.
This year, rather than seeking UN membership, Taiwan is only asking for “meaningful participation” in activities related to UN agencies.
During his campaign, Lugo repeatedly threatened to end Asuncion’s 51-year friendship with Taipei and switch ties to China, if elected.
However, on the eve of his inauguration, he told a visiting Ma that he would “improve and consolidate relations with Taiwan.”
“The ministry will not attempt to interpret Lugo’s remarks,” Chen said, adding it would keep a close eye on the situation.
“The representative office [in Asuncion] is in the process of trying to find out details about and the background to the [TV] interview,” he said.
The ministry also rebutted AP’s report that the Paraguayan Senate was contemplating a US$71 million aid offer from Taipei.
Taiwan never made such an offer and all foreign aid must first be approved by the legislature, Chen said.
Asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), a former minister of foreign affairs, said the Ma administration “had done a good job” in maintaining the Taiwan-Paraguay ties given Lugo’s pro-China stance.
However, he said the government should review the feasibility of Ma’s “diplomatic truce” strategy should relations with Paraguay be cut.
“The so-called ‘diplomatic truce’ should involve bilateral, not unilateral efforts,” he said. “We must hold negotiations with China regarding this.”
Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) of the DPP said Lugo’s decision not to help with the UN bid was a result of Ma’s “truce.”
“Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo’s action was a slap in the face to Ma. His actions represent a big warning about Ma’s diplomatic truce,” Tsai said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG AND RICH CHANG
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from