Relations between Taiwan and Panama remain strong, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday in response to a Panamanian news report claiming Beijing had rejected Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli's offer to switch diplomatic allegiance.
The report said Costa Rican President Oscar Arias had revealed in a recent meeting with former Colombian foreign minister Maria Emma Mejia that Martinelli had approached China with the intention of breaking ties with Taiwan.
Martinelli reportedly told Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who led his country in terminating its 60-year friendship with Taipei in 2007, that Panama wanted to follow San Jose's example.
The Chinese rejected his offer, however, saying it was not interested in expanding its diplomatic relations in the region at the moment and told Martinelli to “stay calm,” the report said.
It said Martinelli made the move despite the fact that Taiwan had already agreed to donate US$22 million to procure a presidential jet for Panama.
Panamanian Vice President and Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela was quoted in a separate report as saying that “Panama is a sovereign country that does not need to seek permission to make its own decisions.”
Without rejecting Arias' claim as quoted in the report, Varela said his government was interested in forging closer commercial ties with China, especially in the Colon Free Zone.
“We have always been willing to maintain these relationships with Mainland China, but now there is a diplomatic truce which we respect and support,” Varela said.
Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said the relationship between Taiwan and Panama was in tip-top shape, but acknowledged that several of the nation's 23 allies had considered jumping ship at the beginning of President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) administration.
“But so far we have maintained all our allies and our relationships with them remain strong,” he said.
Martinelli, a business tycoon turn politician, has publicly advocated a stronger Panama-China alliance during his campaign.
The nation's other Latin American allies, such as Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo and Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes, have also made similar calls.
Panamanian Ambassador to Taiwan Mario Luis Cucalon D'anello said that when he read the news, he called his government to “find out the truth,” but could not get in touch with the appropriate channels in the foreign ministry because of the time difference.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
RSS