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Panamanian vice president to visit China for `business'

Panamanian Vice President Arturo Vallarino has assured Taipei that his upcoming visit to China is a business trip and will not affect Panama-Taiwan ties, Chinese-language news reports said yesterday.

A report published yesterday said Vallarino made the assurance to Vice President Annette Lu on Friday in Paraguay after attending the inauguration of Paraguay's President Nicanor Duarte.

In his meeting with Lu, Vallarino said Panama values its friendship with Taiwan highly and that President Mireya Moscoso has repeatedly stressed that Panama-Taiwan friendship will not change.

"But on the other hand, Panama's enterprises need to expand business opportunities, therefore, Panama will send a delegation to China to explore business opportunities," Vallarino was quoted as saying.

"They want me to lead the delegation, so I will do it in a private capacity. This is purely to help Panama's enterprises and won't hurt Panama-Taiwan diplomatic ties," he said.

Vallarino plans to visit China about the same time Moscoso visits Taiwan on Aug. 21. Local news reports warned that Taiwan-Panama ties are shaky because Panama is mulling switching diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.
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