Ties between Taiwan and Honduras will not be affected despite the last-minute cancelation of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) scheduled trip to the nation’s Central American ally, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
The announcement came several hours after Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was arrested by the military and sent into exile in Costa Rica early yesterday morning.
Because of the recent political upheaval in Honduras, the government had already made contingency plans and canceling the trip was one of them, Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said.
The cancelation will cut the length of Ma’s trip by two days, meaning he will return next Monday, Wang said.
“Because of the current political instability in Honduras, we would not be able to accomplish what we had originally intended during this visit. The president’s security is also another reason why the visit has been called off,” said Wang, stressing the cancelation will not affect bilateral relations between Honduras and Taiwan.
Ma and first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) were scheduled to spend two days in Honduras during his trip to attend the inauguration of Panamanian president-elect Ricardo Martinelli on Saturday.
While the international community has condemned the military coup, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said that to date, Taiwan would refrain from making any official comment because of the nation’s unique political situation.
“We will closely monitor the situation,” he said.
The Republic of China embassy in Tegucigalpa has not reported any problems with Taiwanese nationals because of the coup, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
International Cooperation Development Fund secretary-general Chen Lien-gene (陳連軍) said all 20 volunteers, staff members, and conscripts currently in Honduras have been accounted for and are reported to be safe.
A Taiwanese mobile medical team originally scheduled to visit Honduras will also be held back until further notice, he said.
Meanwhile, the ministry said yesterday it had no plans to raise its travel alert for Honduras because there was no widespread upheaval there.
“We will not raise our travel advisory for Honduras, but we are keeping a close eye on the situation,” Chen said.
At the moment, the ministry has in place a “yellow alert” for San Pedro Sula City because of its poor public security. A “yellow alert” is the lowest on the three-color travel advisory scale and serves as a reminder for travelers to exercise caution.
The comments came after the Honduran Congress on Sunday named its speaker Roberto Micheletti as an interim leader, who immediately imposed a 48-hour curfew after hundreds of Zelaya supporters took to the streets in the capital Tegucigalpa and blocked access to the presidential palace, calling for Zelaya’s reinstatement.
Asked whether the ministry would expand its travel alert if the protests escalated, Chen said it was a possibility, but so far the ministry had not considered doing so.
During his stay in Panama, Ma will hold talks with senior officials of the new Panamanian government, visit the Panama Canal, give interviews to the international news media and meet with Taiwanese community leaders.
The first lady will visit a charity organization headed by the new Panamanian first lady.
Following his trip to Panama, Ma will travel to Nicaragua where Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega will drive him to the hub of a bilateral technological cooperation project, which will allow Ma to interact with Nicaraguan citizens.
Ma will also attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a large trade fair to be held in Nicaragua from tomorrow to Sunday, at which many Taiwanese firms are expected to exhibit their latest products.
During the Nicaragua visit, first lady Chow will visit the local branch of World Vision and a development center for physically challenged children.
Ma will make a transit stop in San Francisco en route to Panama and will stop in Hawaii on his way home.
He will be accompanied by a 129-member delegation of government officials, legislators, industry executives, academics, university presidents, local government chiefs, charity group executives and performing artists.
Commenting on the cancelation, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be responsible for not offering Ma the latest advice about the impending coup.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said Ma called his foreign policy a “diplomatic truce,” but the consequences were that the ministry ignored the maintenance of good relations with the nation’s allies and failed to keep up with the latest information, and had therefore arranged for Ma to visit Honduras even though the political situation had been unstable for a while.
Chen said Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) should step down because of the incident.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民) of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, however, defended the ministry’s performance in arranging the president’s trip.
Shuai said the ministry had been keeping an eye on the political scene in Honduras. Shuai said although it was common for coups to take place in Central America, the ministry could not cancel the president’s planned visit until the coup had actually happened.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA, FLORA WANG AND RICH CHANG
Also See: EDITORIAL: The dilemma of Honduras
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS