Taiwan will not recall its ambassador to Nicaragua after President Daniel Ortega, apologized to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for his absence at a state banquet held on Friday for Ma, a senior foreign affairs official in Taipei said yesterday.
Ma expressed concern after Ortega did not meet him at the airport when he arrived in Managua on Friday morning and skipped a state banquet he was supposed to host for Ma later the same day, the senior official said.
Diplomatic ties between the two countries will not be affected after Ma accepted Ortega’s explanation for not appearing at the banquet, the senior official said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Following Ortega’s perceived snubs on Friday, Taiwan demanded a clear apology from the Nicaraguan government and threatened to suspend aid to the country if Ortega did not show up as scheduled to attend a site dedication ceremony for a product display center, a government official said on Saturday in Managua.
After realizing Taipei’s strong feelings on the matter, Ortega headed to the hotel where Ma was staying on Saturday to offer his apologies for not appearing at the banquet.
Ortega said he could not make it because he was in discussions with Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was also in Nicaragua at the time, on the emergency situation in the Central American country, the Taiwanese official said.
Ortega said the two spoke all night about the situation before Zelaya flew to Washington, where Zelaya attended an emergency meeting over the Honduran coup held by the Organization of American States, the official said.
Zelaya was ousted in a military coup on June 28 when troops arrested him and sent him into exile in Costa Rica.
Speculation has arisen, however, that Ortega’s absences were in response to attempts by the Ma administration to track remittances by the former Democratic Progressive Party administration to Nicaragua.
Upon his arrival at the hotel, the Nicaraguan president hugged his Taiwanese counterpart and chatted with Ma for 10 minutes, before driving him to a banquet hosted by Taiwan’s expatriate community in the country and then attending the product display center ceremony, the official said.
At the banquet, Ortega gave assurances that Nicaragua would maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
On Friday night, Ambassador to Nicaragua Wu Ching-mu (吳進木) offered to resign from his post to take responsibility for the manner in which Ma had been treated. Ortega also apologized to Wu by hugging him and saying that he should take the blame for causing so much trouble. He also praised Wu for his hard work in arranging Ma’s visit.
Accepting Ortega’s explanation, Ma said he understood the importance of the meeting between Ortega and Zelaya because the coup was closely related to the future of both countries.
In Taipei, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), a former foreign minister, said the president should consider recalling the ambassador to Nicaragua.
“It was very impolite of Ortega not to show up. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should voice its strongest protest by considering recalling our ambassador to Nicaragua because we cannot compromise the dignity of our nation,” Chiang said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS