Taiwan is closely monitoring the political situation in former ally El Salvador following a general election, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Friday, after an aide to Salvadorean president-elect Nayib Bukele on Thursday said that the new leader would assess whether to maintain ties with Beijing instead of Taipei.
Bukele, a former mayor of the country’s capital, San Salvador, won the presidential election on Sunday last week by a landslide, garnering more than 50 percent of the vote and ending 25 years of two-party dominance in the Central American nation.
During the campaign, Bukele was critical of the benefits El Salvador received after establishing diplomatic relations with China.
Photo: AFP
The outgoing leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front in August last year cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing, ending 85 years of diplomatic ties.
Federico Anliker, secretary-general of Bukele’s New Ideas party, said that the incoming administration would investigate why the outgoing government forged ties with China, Reuters reported on Thursday.
“With the issue of China, China-Taiwan relations, we have to study them and put them in the balance — what is best for the nation, not what is best for a political party, as the [outgoing administration] did,” the report quoted Anliker as saying.
“We were not consulted, nor did they give us the reasons [for establishing] relations with China. Now we have to investigate in detail,” he said.
Ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said that the ministry is aware of the comments made by the Bukele camp.
“We will continue to closely monitor the post-election political situation in El Salvador,” he said, without elaborating.
Taiwan decided to cut ties with El Salvador after the Central American nation’s request for an “astronomical sum” of financial aid was rejected, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Aug. 21 last year.
He did not disclose the amount.
El Salvador is the fifth diplomatic ally to switch recognition from Taipei to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016, often following promises of financial assistance or loans from Beijing.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
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