The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday sought to reassure Taiwanese businesses with operations in Nicaragua that their interests would be protected after the Central American nation last month severed relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing.
Five days after the decision was announced on Dec. 10, the Nicaraguan legislature also voted to nullify the nation’s free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan, ignoring the required 180-day grace period in a blow to Taiwanese traders.
To help businesses weather the transition period, the government is finalizing temporary response measures, which are to be announced in the next few days, Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs Deputy Director-General Isaac Chiu (邱陳煜) said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
In addition to these measures, it is also to help businesses expand into other potential markets such as Belize and Paraguay, Chiu said.
Agreements on economic cooperation with the two countries went into effect this month, enabling products such as Belizean prawns and Paraguayan hamburger beef to enter Taiwan duty-free, he said.
As for companies that receive subsidies for investing in an allied nation, Chiu said that although Nicaragua has severed ties, the government would still help businesses apply for grants in a “sensible, reasonable and legal” manner.
Trade between Taiwan and Nicaragua skyrocketed after the FTA went into effect in 2008, climbing from US$47.44 million when the agreement was signed in 2006 to more than US$160 million last year.
Nicaragua is one of the largest importers of Taiwanese fishery products, while Taiwan is Nicaragua’s largest market in Asia, Ministry of Economic Affairs data show.
Nicaragua is Taiwan’s second-largest source of frozen shrimp, and also a large supplier of beef, coffee and sugar.
Separately yesterday, the foreign ministry said that democratic nations do not recognize China’s unilateral interpretation of “one China” and they believe that neither side of the Taiwan Strait should be subordinate to the other.
The foreign ministry made the remarks in condemnation of Beijing’s “shock” at Slovenia’s plan to open reciprocal representative offices with Taiwan.
“The fact that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is a free and democratic nation has already won the respect of the world,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a regular news conference in Taipei.
The two sides were trading barbs over comments Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa made on Indian TV on Monday in support of Taiwan.
Saying “we have normal relations” with the democratic country, Jansa told Doordarshan that the eastern European nation is working with Taiwan on “exchanging representatives.”
He also voiced support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, and said that Taiwanese should have the right to determine their own future.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) on Wednesday condemned Jansa’s comments as “dangerous remarks that challenge the one China principle.”
“There is only one China in the world, of which Taiwan is an inseparable part,” Zhao said. “The one China principle is the universally recognized standard for international relations and the general consensus of the international community.”
Ou yesterday protested Beijing’s rebuke, as well as its attempt to portray Taiwan as subordinate to China.
Beijing’s interpretation of “one China” is not recognized by global democracies, she said, calling on Taiwan’s partners to reject Chinese bullying and work together to defend the rules-based international order.
REACHING OUT: President Tsai expressed condolences to the deceased man’s family and wished a speedy recovery to those who were wounded in the shooting The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) on Monday called on the US to label organizations associated with the suspect in the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church shooting as domestic terrorists, following accusations that he was a member of a group backing unification with ties to the Chinese government. David Wenwei Chou (周文偉), 68, was arrested on Sunday and is being held in lieu of US$1 million bail at the Orange County Intake Release Center over a mass shooting at the California church that left one dead and five wounded. Local police suspect the shooting was politically motivated after they found notes in
NO CONSENSUS YET: Local governments and the CECC have agreed to change the ‘3+4’ self-isolation policy, but are still mulling what to replace it with The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and local governments have agreed to ease restrictions on close contacts of COVID-19 cases, although the details are still being discussed, the center said yesterday. The discussions follow Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Saturday approving a proposal to shorten the “3+4” policy — three days of home isolation followed by four days of self-disease prevention — for close contacts who have received booster doses. “We did not reach a consensus on how to revise the current restrictions, but we all agreed that the administrative burden must be reduced and the intensity of restrictions must be eased,
OPPOSING CHINESE ‘HOSTILITY’: The bill orders the state secretary to create a plan to regain observer status for Taiwan, saying Taipei is a model contributor to world health US President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill into law to help Taiwan regain observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA), demonstrating Washington’s support for Taiwan’s international participation. Friday was the deadline for Biden to sign the bill (S.812), which directs “the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization (WHO), and for other purposes.” The 75th WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, is scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday next week to May 28. The bill, introduced by US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate
LIVING WITH COVID-19: Close contacts with a booster shot would no longer follow the ‘3+4’ policy, instead practicing ‘0+7,’ or self-disease prevention for seven days Close contacts of COVID-19 cases who have received a booster shot no longer need to isolate at home, but should practice seven days of “self-disease prevention,” effective today, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that starting at 12am today, close contacts — people living in the same household — of those confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 are exempt from home isolation if they have received a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Data from other countries show that people who have received a booster shot are
RSS