The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday criticized China’s call on Guatemala to make a “correct decision” by ending diplomatic relations with Taiwan, saying Beijing has “no right to intervene” in its diplomatic relationships.
The rebuttal was a response to China on Friday asking Guatemala to recognize that establishing diplomatic relations with China is the right choice that it should make sooner.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is leading a delegation visiting four of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Central America and the Caribbean.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
He visited Guatemala on Thursday and Friday, and met with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo and Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ramiro Martinez to celebrate 90 years of friendship between Taiwan and Guatemala.
Asked about Lin’s visit to Guatemala, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) at a press conference on Friday said: “There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”
UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 “restored the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] in the UN,” he added.
“More and more people with vision in Guatemala are aware that establishing diplomatic relations with China is in the fundamental and long-term interests of Guatemala and its people,” he said.
“We hope the Guatemalan government will see this trend, meet its people’s aspirations, and make the right choice at an early date,” he added.
Asked about China’s claims, MOFA yesterday said they were absurd, and condemned Beijing’s attempt to damage and break the friendship between Guatemala and Taiwan by distorting UN Resolution 2758 and spreading its “one China” principle.
“The Republic of China [Taiwan] is a sovereign independent state, and the ‘status quo’ of the Taiwan Strait is that it and the PRC are not subordinate to each other, which is a fact commonly recognized by international society,” the ministry said.
The ministry also reiterated that UN Resolution 2758 does not mention Taiwan, which Beijing falsely links to its “one China principle.”
“The diplomatic relations between our country [Taiwan] and our allies are an act of sovereignty based on mutual respect, equality and reciprocity, in which other countries have no right to intervene,” the ministry said.
Lin met with Arevalo on Friday and, on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德), extended an official invitation for Arevalo to visit Taiwan, Lin said on Facebook.
“Taiwan and Guatemala support each other,” Lin said in the post, citing Taiwan increasing its imports of Guatemalan coffee after China banned imports from the Central American country, and Guatemala’s support for Taiwan’s membership in the WHO.
Guatemala was the first stop on Lin’s trip, which began on Wednesday and runs until Saturday.
After attending St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ 45th Independence Day celebrations yesterday, Lin would make stops in St. Lucia, Belize, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
Additional reporting by CNA
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