Guatemala's new Ambassador to Taiwan Luis Raúl Estévez López today pledged to enhance 90 years of diplomatic relations, as he presented his credentials to President William Lai (賴清德).
In an address at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Estévez said Taiwan and Guatemala's long-term friendship is based on shared values of peace-loving, fighting for democracy, mutually beneficial partnership and respect for international laws.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, Lai praised Estévez as the perfect man for the ambassador's position, given the veteran diplomat's 32 years of experience with Guatemala's foreign service.
Estévez previously served as Guatemala's representative to the Organization of American States and to the International Court of Justice, and his appointment as ambassador reflected the high priority Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo has given to his country's ties with Taiwan, Lai said.
The president called on Estévez, who replaced Oscar Adolfo Padilla Lam as ambassador, to continue to help both countries deepen the already strong cooperation on all fronts.
The Republic of China established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Guatemala in 1934, when the government was still based in China.
Guatemala is one of Taiwan's two diplomatic allies in Central America, the other being Belize.
Guatemala and Belize are among the 12 countries that have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Upon arriving in Taiwan in November last year, Estévez first presented a copy of his letter of credentials to Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Nov. 15.
Only after completing these procedures is a new ambassador recognized as the representative of his or her country, according to diplomatic protocol.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
RSS