The Nicaraguan government has given the staff of Taiwan’s embassy two weeks to depart, after Managua severed diplomatic ties with Taipei on Friday last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Wednesday.
The decision for Taiwanese staff to depart before Thursday next week was arrived at during negotiations between the two sides in the wake of the diplomatic split, and, based on the principle of reciprocity, the Taiwanese government requested that the staff of Nicaragua’s embassy in Taipei leave by the same deadline, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Taiwan’s embassy in Managua is preparing to close, and staff members and their families — a total of 52 people — would depart in stages, Ou confirmed, after La Prensa newspaper in Nicaragua had reported about the departure the previous day.
Photo: Sarah Wu, Reuters
It is customary for countries to take at least a month to recall their respective personnel following a severing of diplomatic ties, a diplomatic source said.
La Prensa reported that the Nicaraguan National Assembly on Tuesday repealed a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan, which had been signed in December 2006.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs had said that the FTA would remain in effect, despite formal ties being severed.
On Wednesday, the ministry said that either side could withdraw from the FTA by giving six months’ notice, although Nicaragua had not yet notified Taiwan.
On Tuesday, Nicaraguan lawmakers also repealed seven other agreements with Taiwan, including a US$20.2 million loan signed in 1998 with the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China to finance an irrigation project in western Nicaragua, La Prensa reported.
With the loss of Nicaragua, Taiwan has 14 diplomatic allies.
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