The Taipei 101 skyscraper was lit up last night to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Guatemala.
The building flashed a message in Mandarin Chinese that read: “Celebrating the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations” as well as the flags of Republic of China (ROC) and Guatemala, and a handshake.
The ceremony was organized by the Central America Trade Office and the Guatemalan embassy in Taiwan, with the building lit up from 6pm to 10pm yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Ceremony guests included Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Guatemalan Ambassador to Taiwan Luis Raul Estevez Lopez, Taipei Financial Center Corp chairwoman Janet Chia (賈永婕), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Director Cheng Li-cheng (鄭力城) and Central America Trade Office Director Hsu Shao-hui (徐韶慧).
Mutual respect and benefits underlie the Taiwan-Guatemala partnership, as both sides share a vision and values of democratic society, rule of law and human rights, Estevez said in his address.
He also expressed sincere gratitude on behalf of the Guatemalan government and its people for Taiwan’s continued support and cooperation with his country over the past nine decades.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
It is not always easy to keep fostering bilateral relations despite the reality, Estevez said, adding that he hoped that the ties between the nations could keep improving.
Lin said that Taiwan and Guatemala are solid allies, and the strong partnership manifests itself in mutual visits made by senior government officials from both sides over the past 11 months.
Taiwan and Guatemala share values such as freedom and democracy, and have been closely cooperating in terms of healthcare, economics, trade, talent nurturing and infrastructure development over the past few years, he said.
Lin also thanked the Guatemalan government for voicing support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.
Taiwan values its diplomatic ties with Guatemala and would continue to deepen cooperation with the goal of contributing to regional stability, prosperity and development, he said.
The ROC and Guatemala established relations in 1934, when the ROC government was in China.
Guatemala is one of Taiwan’s two diplomatic allies in Central America — the other being Belize. They are among the 12 countries that have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan instead of China.
Additional reporting by CNA
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS