VP meets with Honduran president-elect; U.S. torpedoes Harris rumors (update)
ROC Central News Agency
01/27/2022 05:47 PM
Tegucigalpa, Jan. 26 (CNA) Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) met with Honduras' President-elect Xiomara Castro Wednesday ahead of her inauguration, but Washington has ruled out the possibility of talks between Lai and U.S. counterpart Kamala Harris.
U.S. Vice President Harris is currently also in Honduras to attend Castro's inauguration.
Castro's team had originally canceled the scheduled Wednesday meeting earlier in the day, where Lai would have presented COVID-19 relief donations to Castro as a symbolic gesture of Taiwan's ongoing diplomatic relations with Honduras.
However, the meeting was called back on at short notice while Lai was having dinner with two of Honduras' incoming vice presidents.
Lai and Castro met for around seven minutes, during which the Honduran president-elect was presented with a letter from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
President Tsai, who is Taiwan's first female president, expressed the hope that as Honduras has also elected its first female president, the two countries can work together to strengthen cooperation and that bilateral relations will continue to flourish and benefit people in both countries, Lai told Castro.
He went on to mention how former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had once said he is good friends with Castro and her husband Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, a former Honduran President, and that both also visited Taiwan in the past.
The Honduran President-elect said the assistance provided by Taiwan to Honduras is especially important, even during her husband's presidency as a lot of projects at the time were only completed with the help of Taiwan.
Castro said the friendship between the two countries has far-reaching significance, and she was especially grateful when Taiwan offered to help her family when her husband was ousted from power during a coup in 2009.
Over the years, the two countries have always cooperated with each other, she said, expressing hope that bilateral relations will continue to flourish.
Earlier in the day, Vice President Lai also met with Belize Prime Minister John Briceño while in Honduras.
The bilateral meeting was held at Lai's hotel, during which the two had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations as well as on issues of mutual concern.
During the event, Lai took a moment to welcome Briceño's planned visit to Taiwan in March on behalf of President Tsai.
The last time Briceño visited Taiwan was many years ago, said Lai, adding that the upcoming trip will be a whole new experience.
It was his first official meeting after touching down at Honduras' Soto Cano Air Base earlier in the day following a six-hour flight from Los Angeles.
Upon his arrival, Lai was greeted by members of the incumbent government including Vice President María Antonia Rivera Rosales and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs José Isaias Barahona.
At his hotel, Lai was met by Taiwanese expatriates waving the flag of the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name.
While talks of the possibility of Lai meeting with his U.S. counterpart Kamala Harris had been rumored in Taiwan's press, a senior U.S. government official said there were currently no plans for Harris and Lai to meet while they were both in Honduras.
The official said that Harris had only scheduled bilateral talks with Castro to take place after the latter's inauguration.
Lai, however, did meet with a bipartisan group of U.S. congressional representatives virtually during his 24-hour stopover in California.
Republican Representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry had previously appealed to Harris to take the opportunity to meet with Lai during the inauguration ceremony scheduled for Thursday.
(By Wen Kuei-hsiang, Chiang Chin-yeh, James Lo and Ko Lin)
Enditem/ASG/AW
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