President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will receive a senior Panamanian official tomorrow and the two may touch on the Panamanian government's reported plan to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday that Jorge Hernan Rubio, first vice president of Panama's National Assembly, arrived in Taipei on Sunday night for a six-day visit.
Rubio, who is leading a delegation of seven assembly members from the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party, will also visit Deputy Legislative Speaker Chung Jung-chi (鍾榮吉) and Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳).
The delegation will also visit the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training under the Council of Labor Affairs, the Science Park Administration, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, China Shipbuilding Corp and the Port of Kaohsiung.
Plan to switch?
One member of the delegation, Susana Richa de Torrijos, is the aunt of Panamanian President Martin Torrijos. President Torrijos reportedly began negotiations with Beijing in July last year to discuss the possibility of switching diplomatic ties.
Taiwan has 12 diplomatic allies in South and Central America, six in Africa, another six in East Asia and the Pacific and one in Europe.
China has been trying to lure Taiwan's diplomatic allies with financial aid and benefits if they agree to sever ties with Taiwan, but has often failed to keep its word.
After snatching away several of Taiwan's Latin American allies in recent years, Beijing is now eyeing Panama and Paraguay.
Panama is the only country with which Taiwan has negotiated a free trade agreement (FTA). The deal was implemented in January 2004.
The government is currently in FTA talks with Nicaragua.
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However, he hesitated to confirm whether the two would touch on the Panamanian government's reported plan to change ties to Beijing.
An official at Panama's embassy in Taiwan said that its Ambassador Julio Mock Cardenas was informed of Rubio's visit but could not accompany him to the Presidential Office tomorrow because he is out of the country and not expected to return until the beginning of next month.
Some reports speculate that following Rubio's visit, Panamanian National Assembly President Elias Ariel Castillo will visit China at the end of this month to further discuss the possibility of shifting diplomatic relations to Beijing.
Panamanian Poll
An opinion poll released yesterday showed that most Panamanians would prefer to remain friends with Taiwan rather than switch to China.
The survey commissioned by the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa, showed that 61 percent of the respondents would prefer to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, while about 14 percent said they wanted to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing; 24 percent said they did not have any preference.
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