CENTRAL AMERICA:
Taiwan on the Prowl for
Diplomatic Support
By
Raúl Gutiérrez
SAN SALVADOR, (IPS)
- The president of
Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian,
is visiting Central
America, fearful of
losing more allies in
the region, as occurred
with Costa Rica which
broke off diplomatic
relations with Taiwan in
order to reestablish
them with China.
Chen’s visit, which
brought him to El
Salvador this Friday,
reflects Taiwan’s
interest in reinforcing
the ties it has had for
decades with this
region, which are now
beginning to fray as
trade with China
increases, analysts say.
"Their diplomatic moves
show the anxiety (of the
Taiwanese) after Costa
Rica’s volte-face" on
Jun. 6, political
scientist and expert on
international politics
Napoleón Campos told IPS.
Central American and
many Caribbean countries
are, in fact, almost the
last international
backers that Taiwan,
regarded by China as a
renegade province, has
had over the past two
decades, he said.
Central American
countries have
unconditionally
supported Taiwan in its
bids to recover an
official seat at the
United Nations. It was
ousted from the U.N. in
1971 when China won
recognition.
Its scant international
recognition is used as
an argument by Beijing
to recover the island,
lost in 1949 when the
leaders of the
nationalist Kuomintang
party fled the Chinese
mainland after their
defeat by the Communist
forces, and established
a government on Taiwan.
Taiwan has observer
status at the Central
American Integration
System (SICA) and is an
extra-regional partner
of the Central American
Bank for Economic
Integration (BCIE).
Analysts say that this
region of the Americas
has become a real
chessboard for the two
Asian countries, which
are battling for
something more than
trade partners.
Diplomatic support and
recognition is the
ultimate aim.
A source at the Honduran
foreign ministry told
IPS that the country
"maintains friendly and
supportive relations
with Taiwan and will
give it its backing for
re-entering the U.N."
when the issue comes up
for discussion in
September, but did not
deny press reports about
possible changes in
Taiwanese-Honduran
relations in future.
The establishment of
trade ties between
Honduras and China at
the same time that these
reports have emerged is
apparently not just a
coincidence. Similar
reports have emerged in
Guatemala, El Salvador,
Nicaragua and Panama,
all of which express
support for Taiwan but
have their eyes on
Asia’s giant.
Costa Rica broke off
relations abruptly with
Taiwan in early June,
after 63 years of
economic and diplomatic
cooperation. Now, China
is its strategic
partner, with trade
between them having
climbed from 630 million
dollars in 2004 to 1.7
billion dollars in 2006.
Illustrating the new
close relationship, and
while the Taiwanese
president was in the
same region, this week a
Chinese delegation
headed by deputy Trade
Minister Ma Xiuhong
visited Costa Rica to
mark the resumption of
bilateral relations, and
to ask the other Central
American countries to
consider resuming
diplomatic ties with
Beijing.
The Guatemalan fast food
company Pollo Campero
has already started
negotiations to open a
chain of restaurants in
China.
And members of the
business community in El
Salvador have advocated
establishing trade
relations with China,
although they want to
keep trading with Taiwan
as well.
Chen’s tour, which is
due to end early next
week in Nicaragua, is
"to reinforce the
fraternal links we have
had for decades with our
sister countries (in
Central America),"
Marcos Chan, press
officer for the
Taiwanese embassy in San
Salvador, told IPS,
after denying that
Taiwan is worried by San
José’s decision.
Chan did, however,
comment on Costa Rica.
"We very much regret the
decision taken by
President (Oscar) Arias,
because we have provided
a great many aid
projects for the country
to develop its
information technology
industry and education,"
he said in impeccable
Spanish.
President Chen arrived
in Honduras on Tuesday,
and met with his
Honduran counterpart
Manuel Zelaya. On
Thursday he attended a
joint meeting of
Presidents Antonio Saca
of El Salvador and Oscar
Berger of Guatemala,
Vice Presidents Jaime
Morales of Nicaragua and
Rubén Arosamena of
Panama, the deputy
foreign minister of the
Dominican Republic,
Clara Quiñónez, and the
prime minister of
Belize, Said Musa.
The Central American
government
representatives thanked
Taiwan for its
cooperation with their
efforts towards economic
and social development,
according to the
communiqué issued after
the meeting which was
held in Zambrano, about
40 kilometres from the
Honduran capital.
Sources consulted by IPS
were, however, intrigued
at the sending of
second-level
representatives to the
meeting by Nicaragua,
Panama and the Dominican
Republic, and recalled
that Costa Rica had done
the same thing in May at
the meeting of foreign
ministers in Belize,
when the fate of
Taiwanese-Costa Rican
relations was already
decided.
Chen will remain in El
Salvador until Sunday,
although he is only
scheduled to have one
private meeting with
Saca lasting no more
than an hour, according
to the agenda announced
by the Salvadoran
foreign ministry. He
will also speak with
members of Congress and
the Supreme Court.
Taiwan and El Salvador
have enjoyed trading
links for several years,
and the flow of
Taiwanese aid has been
uninterrupted.
Taiwan donated six
million dollars to El
Salvador for
reconstruction work
after the devastating
earthquakes of January
and February 2001, and
300,000 dollars to help
the country recover from
tropical storm Stan in
2005.
The embassy of Taiwan in
San Salvador provided
information indicating
that Salvadoran exports
to Taiwan totalled 2.4
million dollars in 2003,
and nearly nine million
dollars in 2006.
Investments by Taiwanese
companies in El Salvador
amount to 80 million
dollars.
Between 2000 and 2004,
the volume of trade
between Taiwan and the
Central American and
Caribbean region
amounted to 3.3 billion
dollars, according to
the Salvadoran foreign
ministry.
In spite of the high
volume of trade with
Taiwan, political
scientist Campos
predicts that China’s
astuteness and
historical circumstances
will prevail.
"The Chinese mentality
is much more complex,
patient, intelligent and
open than we Central
Americans imagine," he
said. |
