The Presidential Office yesterday defended the government’s recent donation of a jet to the Panamanian government, saying President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) opposed “checkbook diplomacy” but was not against offering aid to diplomatic allies if the money was used properly.
“Since his presidential campaign, the president has emphasized that he is against ‘checkbook diplomacy’ or ‘dollar diplomacy’ because the source or flow of the money isn’t clear,” Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said. “However, he is not against using money in a proper way if there is a clear and specific plan.”
A report published in yesterday’s Chinese-language China Times cited Panamanian media reports as saying that Taiwan hadn’t stopped its “checkbook diplomacy” after Ma took office in May last year.
The report said the Ma administration donated an Embraer Legacy 600 jet to Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli after his plan to replace his presidential jet was rejected by the public. The report also said the deal was struck when Ma attended the inauguration of Martinelli on July 1 this year.
During former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) term, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) harshly criticized him for “checkbook diplomacy.”
Latin America has long been a diplomatic battlefield between Taipei and Beijing. Panama, one of the most strategically significant countries in the world because of the Panama Canal, has been at the center of speculation about countries that might switch allegiance from Taiwan to China.
At the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) also denied the donation amounted to “checkbook diplomacy.”
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said there could have been a kickback involved in the deal, adding that the Ma government gave Panama US$40 million to buy the jet, which cost less than US$28 million. Tsai demanded Yang investigate the case.
Tsai, however, had apparently misread the China Times report, in which it quoted the Panama paper as saying that the country obtained a donation of US$40 million from Taiwan, with the jet estimated at US$28 million and a Bell 412 helicopter valued at US$12 million.
Yang said the jet was part of a cooperative program between the two governments after the two sides reviewed its necessity using “an open and transparent process.”
“Panamanian President Martinelli made the request for the jet after he assumed office. [Martinelli] said the jet was to be used in emergency rescue and operations to crack down on drug-smuggling at its border … The jet was officially handed over to Panama and listed as public property,” Yang said. “After handover of the jet, there was no way for the [Taiwanese] government to know if the jet was used for purposes consistent with the reasons we agreed to for the donation.”
In related news, Yang confirmed the government had received requests from the US to provide non-military aid to US troops in Afghanistan such as medical or engineering assistance.
“From my understanding, the US has expressed the wish [to Taiwan], but we are deliberating on the matter carefully and haven’t made any decision. Sending personnel is one thing and giving donations is another,” Yang said.
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