Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) executive president Dante Mossi thanked Taiwan for its contribution to the region after Nicaragua proposed replacing Taiwan with China in the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN).
Then-PARLACEN president Guillermo Daniel Ortega Reyes of Nicaragua in April last year issued a statement that had not been discussed by the parliament, saying there was only “one China.”
Nicaragua last month proposed replacing the Legislative Yuan with the Chinese National People’s Congress as an observer in PARLACEN.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Five of the six PARLACEN member states — the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras Nicaragua and Panama — recognize the People’s Republic of China as the sole representative of China, the proposal said.
Guatemala is the only PARLACEN member state that has diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The proposal was submitted to PARLACEN’s Commission of International Relations and Migration Affairs and is to be deliberated when the parliament convenes next month.
PARLACEN adopts majority rule, which is unfavorable for Taiwan, a person familiar with the matter said, asking to remain anonymous.
Taiwan is striving to explain the nation’s contribution to the region to the parliament’s representatives and has maintained communication with them, the person said, adding that the statement issued by Nicaragua last year sparked a backlash from several representatives.
The System of Central American Integration (SICA) comprises PARLACEN, the CABEI and the Central American Common Market.
If the proposal to replace Taiwan is pushed through, some are worried that Taiwan’s observer status in SICA and its non-regional membership in the CABEI might be challenged next.
Mossi wrote on LinkedIn that Taiwan is the largest shareholder of the CABEI and “its impact in the region dwarfs any trade impact from any other country in Asia.”
A research paper conducted by the CABEI shows that none of the eight Central American countries had any significant gain with trade or investments after establishing diplomatic ties with China, he said, adding that an exception might be Panama because of trade through the Panama Canal.
“We are too far from Asia, and the size of Central America is not that attractive to the mammoths in Asia,” he said.
The CABEI has provided more than US$16 billion in loans over the past four years, of which Taiwan holds an almost 11 percent share, he said.
“For that, many thanks! Xie Xie,” he wrote.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang