President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday promised to give “priority consideration” to an invitation from Panama for her to attend the inauguration ceremony of the expanded Panama Canal on June 26.
Tsai made the remarks during a meeting with Panamian Ambassador Alfredo Martiz, who delivered the invitation from Panamanian President Juan Carlos Valera for the canal’s inauguration to Tsai in person.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) was also invited.
Photo: CNA
“Ambassador Martiz congratulated Tsai on her election win [on Jan. 16] and said that, since the years-long construction is important to Panama, it has invited all its diplomatic allies, as well as important users of the canal, to take part,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) said after the meeting behind closed doors at party headquarters in Taipei.
“Tsai thanked the Panamanian president for his sincere invitation and though the inauguration ceremony is only one month after the presidential inauguration on May 20, she would give it priority consideration,” Ruan said.
At the meeting, Tsai and Martiz discussed potential cooperation between the two nations, including in the biotechnology, “renewable” energy, telecommunications and medical industries.
In response to media queries about Panama’s invitation for Xi to attend the ceremony — with some politicians and political commentators speculating that Panama might be expressing a desire to establish formal diplomatic ties with China through the invitation — Martiz said that diplomatic ties between Taipei and Panama City remain firm.
“The Panama Canal is open to the international world; this is the answer to this question, but Taiwan is our ally and we have a relationship with them,” Martiz said in English. “That’s why we are here to show the people in Taiwan the relationship between Taiwan and Panama is [a] very good one.”
“No need to be afraid. Feel happy. Panama and Taiwan, they are good friends,” he added.
Although Tsai has not said whether she would attend the event, most DPP legislators said they would support a decision to go.
“If the first occasion for the leaders from both sides [of the Taiwan Strait] to meet is to be in Panama — in an international setting — it would not be a bad thing,” DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said. “However, Tsai should be clear that the meeting would not be ‘accidental,’ if it happens.”
Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said it was not certain that Tsai and Xi would meet, even if they both attended the event.
“China has always tried to avoid meetings between leaders from both sides at international events, so I think the possibility of Tsai meeting with Xi in Panama is not too high,” Lo said.
However, Lo said Tsai should accept the invitation regardless of the possibility of a meeting with the Chinese leader, as it would be an important event that leaders from many countries would attend and it would be beneficial for Tsai to interact with them.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators also voiced support for Tsai’s potential trip to Panama.
KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) said Taiwan is facing great challenges in diplomacy, so if there is a chance for the future president to engage in international interactions that are helpful to the nation, the KMT would not oppose the trip.
KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) said Tsai “has to go,” regardless of China’s attitude.
Meanwhile, China reacted frostily yesterday.
Asked whether Xi would attend the ceremony and if he might meet Tsai, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) did not answer directly.
“What I want to point out is that China has always had the ‘one China’ principle as a fundamental precondition for handling and developing relations with countries around the world,” Hong told a daily news briefing, without elaborating.
Additional reporting by Alison Hsiao and Reuters
EFFICIENCY: The rules for Philippine arrivals were revised after 17.6% of arrivals with symptoms tested positive, compared with 0.7% of those with no symptoms Starting today, Chinese spouses who hold a reunion permit can apply to enter Taiwan and travelers without symptoms from the Philippines do not need to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, but are to be tested after a 14-day quarantine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that from today, Chinese who are married to a Taiwanese citizen and hold a reunion permit can apply to the National Immigration Agency for entry into Taiwan. Chinese who are married to a foreign national and hold an accompanied reunion permit
PENGHU INSPECTION: Taiwan cannot let its enemies strut around in its airspace, Tsai said, one day after a Chinese spokesman denied a median line exists in the Taiwan Strait Following China’s assertion on Monday that there is no “median line” in the Taiwan Strait, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday pledged to defend the nation’s airspace during a visit to an air force base in Penghu, saying that Taiwan cannot allow others to flex their military muscle in its territorial airspace. Tsai praised the “heroic performance” of the pilots of the Indigenous Defense Fighters who have been intercepting Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes in recent days. “I have a lot of confidence in you. As soldiers of the Republic of China [ROC], how could we let enemies strut
CONSOLIDATION? Taiwan Thinktank deputy executive-general Doong Sy-chi said Beijing’s intimidation tactics are further alienating those who identify as Chinese Only 2 percent of respondents to a poll on constitutional amendments and national identity identified as Chinese, while 62.6 percent identified as Taiwanese, the Taiwan Thinktank said yesterday. Legislators have proposed amendments to the Additional Articles of the Constitution (憲法增修條文), which would change the definition of the nation’s territory, remove the Taiwan Provincial Government as an entity, prioritize the use of “Taiwan” for national groups at international events, and remove restrictions on defining the national emblem, national flag and national anthem. The poll showed that 80.5 percent of respondents agreed that the nation should participate as “Taiwan” at events organized by world
MISTAKE: The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is not a UN body, and the government is committed to protecting the nation’s name, Joseph Wu said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy for listing Taiwanese cities as belonging to China on its Web site, and asked that it correct the error. The organization was inaugurated in Brussels in 2016 as a global coalition of mayors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Six Taiwanese cities at the time joined the coalition as cities in “Taiwan,” the ministry said. However, officials from the Kaohsiung City Government — one of the organization’s members — last week noticed that the city was now listed on the organization’s Web site as a
RSS