Nicaragua plans to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan and will invite President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to the inauguration of president-elect Daniel Ortega in January, the Central News Agency (CNA) said on Friday, quoting Nicaragua's ambassador to the UN, Eduardo Sevilla Somoza.
Sevilla reassured Taiwan that there won't be major changes in Nicaragua's foreign policy when the new government is formed next January, so there won't be immediate changes in Nicaragua-Taiwan ties.
"Our two countries have maintained friendly ties and had good cooperation, so we will continue this cooperation in future," she said in an interview with CNA in New York on Friday.
"We will invite President Chen to attend the January 10 inauguration of president-elect Ortega," she said.
Sevilla said that after Ortega's Sandinista government won the presidential election on Nov. 8, "there are two forces of power in Nicaragua which are competing against and cooperating with each other."
"When the new government is formed in January, there will be personnel and some policy changes, but no major changes," she said.
Ortega said before the election that if he won, he would switch recognition from Taiwan to China to meet the needs of the Nicaraguan business sector.
A concerned Taiwan sent Vice Foreign Minister Hou Ching-shan (
Nicaragua is one of the 24 countries that recognize Taiwan, but Taipei is worried that the ties may become shaky with Ortega's return to power.
Hou, in a meeting late last Thursday with leaders of Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front, said Taiwan will keep investing in Nicaragua under Ortega's government.
"We believe we will keep working together to widen our traditional relations of friendship and cooperation," Hou said.
Nicaragua recognized Beijing in 1985 after Ortega's first election. However, former President Violeta Chamorro broke with Beijing and re-established ties with Taiwan after defeating Ortega in 1990.
Taiwan has since helped Nicaragua build a new presidential building and a new foreign ministry among other things.
After meeting with Hou, Ortega said they had discussed the new government's plans to end poverty, improve medical care, create jobs and ensure electricity supplies.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS