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 signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS