Foreign minister Jason Hu (
"The foreign minister will be making a trip to the Dominican Republic and Panama in the near term, but his exact schedule has not been set yet," MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (
Chen said Hu was invited for a visit by Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernadez Reyna, who visited Taiwan a week after the 921 earthquake.
According to a report in yesterday's China Times Express, Hu is expected to visit the Dominican Republic, Panama and Haiti.
Reports in recent months describe shaky Taiwan-Panama relations, following a series of visits by Panamanian officials to Beijing including a vice president-elect, an ex-vice president and a senior member of the country's Foreign Affairs Commission.
Panama's representative in Hong Kong, Juan Pablo Pereira, was quoted by the Far Eastern Economic Review last week as saying: "Panama will not close its doors on the possibility of establishing ties with China as economic links between the two countries grow."
Panama's foreign minister, Jose Miguel Aleman, however, was quick to dismiss such comments, and reaffirmed that bilateral relations with Taiwan remained firm and friendly.
Aleman underplayed the significance of the two trips and said they were taken in a private capacity.
He assured Taiwan that Panama plans to maintain diplomatic ties with the island while continuing commercial ones with China.
The handover of the US-controlled Panama Canal is scheduled for the end of this year. Taiwan is concerned that China may gain control of the waterway since control of the canal's Atlantic and Pacific Ocean ports and adjacent facilities will go to Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong.
Li Ka-shing (
Officials in Taiwan fear China could use Li's economic clout to persuade Panamanian leaders to switch diplomatic recognition in favor of Beijing.
The company is to pay Panama US$22.2 million per year in rent for the next 20 years for its control of the canal.
Taiwan has maintained a diplomatic tug-of-war over Panama, giving tens of millions of dollars in aid and loans to the nation, and has offered generous financial incentives to promote investment there by Taiwanese companies.
The Taiwan-based Evergreen Group recently invested US$100 million in a harbor construction project in Panama, and in addition to a nearly completed housing project, the company is planning ventures in the restaurant business as well.
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
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