Guatemala President-elect seeks to balance relations with China, Taiwan
ROC Central News Agency
08/23/2023 01:26 PM
Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) The incoming president of Guatemala, Taiwan's diplomatic ally, said Tuesday he has no intention to alter the status of his country's diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, but that he also wants to improve relations with China as well.
"We believe it is perfectly feasible to have good relations with both the (People's) Republic of China and Taiwan," President-elect César Bernardo Arévalo de León told Reuters during an interview.
Guatemala's private sector is interested in expanding relations with China, which counts the Central American country as its main trade partner in the region, Arévalo added.
It remains to be seen how Arévalo's new government will manage to navigate relations with both after assuming office, given the fact that the PRC sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has made it a precondition for a foreign country to cut diplomatic relations with Taipei before it can have closer relations with Beijing.
The 64-year-old former diplomat also told Reuters that he wants to work with the United States to expand temporary work programs for Guatemalan migrants and also increase U.S. investment in the country's poorest areas in a bid to reduce the number of people leaving.
The center-left anti-corruption politician and son of former Guatemala President Juan José Arévalo Bermejo won Sunday's presidential runoff by a landslide, beating his closest rival, former first lady Sandra Torres Casanova.
Taiwan's government congratulated Arévalo after his victory.
"I look forward to working with you in deepening Taiwan-Guatemala ties & furthering the prosperity of our peoples," President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) tweeted in Spanish.
According to Presidential Office spokeswoman Olivia Lin (林聿禪), the nation's ambassador to Guatemala Miguel Li-Jey Tsao (曹立傑) also congratulated the Arévalo campaign on behalf of President Tsai.
When asked whether Tsai or Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will attend Arévalo's inauguration ceremony during a press briefing Tuesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) did not give a direct answer, only saying that the government will definitely send a delegation to Guatemala after the inauguration date is announced.
Central America was once Taiwan's staunchest base of diplomatic support, with all seven countries still recognizing the ROC as of 2006.
However, Costa Rica severed ties in 2007, followed by Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua in 2017, 2018 and 2021, respectively.
Following Honduras' decision to cut ties with Taiwan in March 2023, Taiwan was left with only 13 diplomatic allies worldwide, with Guatemala and Belize the only countries in Central America to maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei.
(By Joseph Yeh)
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