Nicaragua will not abandon Taiwan, Nicaraguan Ambassador William Tapia said yesterday, adding that the Central American nation will not be “bought by dollars.”
Tapia made the remarks at a gathering with the media at the Nicaraguan embassy in Taipei, amid mounting concerns that the nation’s other diplomatic allies could follow in the footsteps of the Dominican Republic, which last month switched diplomatic recognition to China.
Nicaragua is one of Taiwan’s 19 diplomatic allies. The two nations resumed diplomatic ties in 1990 after then-Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega — who is also the incumbent president — switched recognition to Beijing in 1985.
“We have never thought about leaving Taiwan. Why would we leave Taiwan? It is our best ally... My president [Ortega] has said that as long as he is president of Nicaragua, we [will] never abandon Taiwan,” Tapia said.
Tapia said he did not understand why his country has been repeatedly singled out every time Taiwan lost a diplomatic ally.
“I’m very proud to say that among all the Latin American countries, Nicaragua is the best. We [Nicaraguans] are sincere. If I say I love you, that means I love you. If I say I won’t betray you, I won’t betray you... When we make a commitment, we make a commitment,” he said.
While acknowledging that Nicaragua is facing strong pressure from Beijing, Tapia said he did not think Ortega would succumb to pressure.
Tapia said the Taiwanese government does not need to worry about losing his country just because of a Chinese-led interoceanic canal project in Nicaragua, which was inaugurated in 2014.
“You’re always worried about that canal. You know why it’s going slowly? Because we’re not going to get any pressure from any country. If we had surrendered to China’s pressure, we would have had that canal a long, long time ago,” he said.
Although some countries’ leaders might pledge commitment to Taipei while signing a deal with Beijing, Tapia said his government is not “two-faced” and that it “will not be bought by dollars.”
“We are people with dignity, we are people with words and we are people with commitment,” he added.
Turning to recent demonstrations in Nicaragua over pension reform, which have turned violent and resulted in many deaths, Tapia said his government has called for peace and dialogue after the situation became chaotic due to the circulation of fake news on social media.
Despite the protests, Nicaragua is still running normally, he said, adding that he hopes the rest of the world can support his government’s call for peace.
UNDER WATCH: Taiwan will have to establish a standardized nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus and monitor its spread, the CDC said The Langya henipavirus, which can be transmitted from animals to humans, has been discovered in China, with 35 human infections reported so far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that the nation would establish a nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus. A study titled “A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China” that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday said that a new henipavirus associated with a fever-causing human illness was identified in China. The study said an investigation identified 35 patients with acute infection of the Langya henipavirus in China’s Shandong
MISSILE PATHS: Certain information on the Chinese missile fire was not disclosed to maintain secrecy over military intelligence-gathering capabilities, the MND said Military experts yesterday speculated on the implication of the government’s tight-lipped response and the lack of air-raid sirens during the first day of China’s military drills the previous day. On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched 11 Dongfeng-series ballistic missiles into waters north, east and south of Taiwan, a day after US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s departure from the country, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The Japanese Ministry of Defense said that China fired nine missiles toward Taiwan, including four that flew over Taiwan proper. However, China’s exhibition of force failed to terrorize the local populace, because
If any war were to break out between the US and China, one trigger might be the increasingly frequent fighter jet encounters near Taiwan. Almost every day, Taiwanese fighter pilots hop in their US-made F-16s to intercept Chinese warplanes screaming past their territory. The encounters probe the nation’s defenses and force the pilots on both sides to avoid mistakes that could lead to a crisis that spins out of control. “I didn’t know whether they would fire at me,” said retired colonel Mountain Wang, recounting a tense five-minute confrontation he had with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jets more than a decade
INCREASINGLY EMBOLDENED: China can no longer be dismissed as inexperienced, demonstrating an ability to coordinate land and sea missile systems, an expert said Beijing’s largest-ever exercises around Taiwan have offered essential clues into its plans for a grueling blockade in the event of an attack on Taiwan, and revealed an increasingly emboldened Chinese military, experts said. The visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi — second in line to the presidency — sparked outrage from Beijing, which launched vast military maneuvers around the nation, even at the risk of partially exposing its plans to the US and its Asian allies. Mobilizing fighter planes, helicopters and warships, the drills aim to simulate a blockade of Taiwan and include practicing an “attack on
RSS