Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo is scheduled to visit Taiwan next month on a state visit, during which he would meet with President William Lai (賴清德), Arevalo told a news conference on Monday.
The trip would “boost the friendly collaborative ties with the great country” and advance bilateral projects related to Guatemala’s technology development, Arevalo said.
A delegation focused on semiconductors that is in Taiwan to participate in a high-tech conference has 30 members representing Guatemalan industries, local governments and businesses, he added.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Guatemala would host a conference in August to introduce Taiwanese tech leaders and businesses to Guatemalan officials and companies to advance bilateral cooperation and help Taiwanese high-tech businesses build presences in the Central American country, he said.
Among those who are to travel to Taiwan would be Guatemalan Minister of Economy Gabriela Garcia-Quinn, Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ramiro Martinez and first lady Lucrecia Peinado, Arevalo said.
Lai invited Arevalo to visit Taiwan during a videoconference following Arevalo’s inauguration in January last year.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) re-extended the invitation during a visit to Guatemala in October last year.
Guatemala is one of 12 UN-recognized countries that maintains formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
In other news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed a delegation of five US lawmakers who are members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, led by US Representative Bruce Westerman, who is chairman of the committee.
The others in the delegation are US representatives Sarah Elfreth, Harriet Hageman, Celeste Maloy and Nick Begich, the ministry said, adding that the group arrived yesterday and is to depart tomorrow.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That