Panama's foreign minister Jose Miguel Aleman arrives in Taiwan today for a six-day visit.
His visit comes in the midst of Taiwan's cabinet reshuffle, where foreign minister designate Chen Chien-jen (程建?H) is scheduled to formally take over for Jason Hu (-J志強), the outgoing foreign minister and KMT campaign manager, next Tuesday.
Chen, who is fluent in Spanish, is to meet with Aleman during his stay here.
Aleman's trip follows Hu's visit to Panama last month, where he said high-level Panamanian officials assured him that ties with Taiwan remain firm.
A series of visits by Panamanian officials to China in recent months have fueled speculation that Panama is considering switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
China had previously stated that it planned to filch two of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the Central America region before Oct. 1 this year -- the 50th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China.
With almost half of its 29 formal allies in Central America and the Caribbean, the region is an important diplomatic foothold for Taiwan.
For years, it has been the arena for a continual diplomatic tug-of-war between Taiwan and China.
Panama seems to have tipped the diplomatic balance by inviting Taiwan's ambassador to Panama, Lan Chih-ming (藍智民), to the handover of the Panama Canal next month while leaving China's unofficial trade representative in Panama in the cold.
Leaders from member countries of the Organization of American States, along with delegations from Japan, France, Egypt and Spain, will also attend.
However, Taiwan is concerned that China will gain preponderant influence over Panama through the chairman of Hutchison Whampoa, Li Ka-shing (李1顫?.
Li's Hong Kong-based conglomerate will take control of the waterway, paying the Panamanian government US$22.2 million per year for the next 20 years.
Taiwan and the US have become increasingly concerned that China could gain control of the strategically important canal, as Li is known to maintain close ties with Beijing leaders.
However, Taiwan too has commercial weight in Panama, with Taiwan's Evergreen Group having strong business interests operating warehouses and ports on the canal.
The group recently invested US$100 million in a harbor construction project and, along with a nearly completed housing project, is also planning to venture into the restaurant business there.
Chang Yung-fa (張榮發), the company's founder, has close ties with Panama president Mireya Moscoso and has been invited to attend the canal handover on Dec. 14, reported the Central News Agency yesterday.
Aleman will meet with Chang, along with president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), economic minister Wang Chih-kang (
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —