Chinese offers of money for infrastructure projects and the wish to divert the Panamanian public’s attention from domestic affairs were the main reasons for the nation’s abrupt decision to switch recognition from the Republic of China (ROC) to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), sources said.
Taiwan on Tuesday cut diplomatic ties with Panama after the Central American country switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing earlier on the same day.
The large amount of Chinese investment on the table played a significant role in Panama’s decision, a source said, adding that Juan Carlos Varela — a businessman before entering politics — places heavy emphasis on commerce and profits.
Photo: AFP
Over the past three years, China has invested US$25 billion into various public infrastructure projects in the nation, and in just the past three months has offered loans worth more than US$8 billion, the source said.
In comparison, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only has an annual budget of NT$24 billion (US$789.97 million), the source said, adding that while the ministry had offered to step up cooperation in education and medical facilities, the scale of the projects were incomparable with China’s.
The Panamanian government had not asked Taiwan to increase the scale of its aid over the past two years, a source said.
Panama switched recognition despite repeatedly assuring Taiwan that there were no such plans, sources said.
Taiwan reportedly received information that Panama was “engaged in political talks with China,” but the Taiwanese embassy in Panama later assessed that the nation was, at that time, in the early stages of its negotiations with China, the sources said.
Taiwanese in Panama informed the Taiwanese embassy 48 hours before the Panamanian government’s official announcement that Panama was preparing an important media announcement and that it might be about switching recognition to Beijing.
Despite the Taiwanese embassy repeatedly urging the Panamanian government to confirm the allegation, the Panamanian government at the time staunchly denied it was planning to do so, the sources said.
Panamanian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Miguel Hincapie at the time told the embassy “he was not aware of such announcements,” the source said.
However, Hincapie was one of only four people in the whole of Panama to know about the planned switch, the sources said, adding that the other three were Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, Panamanian Vice President Isabel Saint Malo and an unidentified administrative staff member.
The embassy, after receiving official notice from the Panamanian government of its intention to switch recognition only 40 minutes before the announcement, asked the president of the Panamenista Party, Jose Luis Varela — Juan Carlos Varela’s brother — to telephone the president to try and persuade the him to change his mind, the source said.
Ten minutes before the Panamanian government’s official announcement, Jose Varela called back to say that there was no way to do so, the source said.
The source surmised that Juan Carlos Varela was seeking to deflect attention from domestic politics due to recent policy flops, which have reportedly seen his approval ratings plunge.
There are up to 300,000 ethnic Chinese in Panama, comprising of 8 percent of President Varela’s voting base, the source said.
There are only about 300 Taiwanese businessmen and embassy staff in Panama, the source said.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
RSS