Nicaraguan president-elect Daniel Ortega on Tuesday promised to continue diplomatic relations with Taiwan, amid speculation that the Central American ally might switch allegiance to China.
"After the change of government [late yesterday], I hope to continue all kinds of relationships with the people and government of Taiwan," Ortega said.
"I'd like to reiterate my warm welcome to all the officials and businesspeople of the Republic of China, Taiwan, at a time when we have committed ourselves to fighting poverty," he said.
PHOTO: CNA
Ortega made the remarks on Tuesday evening while meeting with President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen arrived in the Nicaraguan capital on Tuesday afternoon. He was to attend the inauguration of Ortega late yesterday and was greeted with military honors at the airport.
Ortega had said before the election that if he won, he would switch recognition from Taiwan to China to meet the needs of the Nicaraguan business sector.
Nicaragua recognized Beijing in 1985 after Ortega's first election. However, former president Violeta Chamorro broke with Beijing and re-established ties with Taiwan after defeating Ortega in 1990.
Chen met Ortega and Nicaraguan vice president-elect Jaime Morales Carazo in the evening before having dinner with Taiwanese expatriates, embassy personnel and agricultural mission members.
Ortega yesterday told Chen that his new government would continue diplomatic relations with Taiwan, while developing exchanges with China. While Oretega has invited China to establish trade offices in his country, Beijing has not yet responded.
When asked by the Taipei Times during Tuesday night's press conference whether Taiwan could accept Nicaragua's recognition of Taiwan and China at the same time, Chen said that his government has never opposed such a situation.
However, such a scenario would not be an issue, Chen said, because what the Nicaraguan government wants is to maintain economic ties with Beijing rather than diplomatic.
"The crux of the problem lies in China's unwillingness, rather than Taiwan's," he said.
Regarding Taiwan-US relations, Chen said that he realized the US government needs China's help in tackling problems in Iran, Iraq and North Korea, but he did not want to see cooperation between Washington and Beijing sacrifice Taiwan's interests.
Chen said that his administration values the hard-earned mutual trust and long-term friendship between the two countries.
The president also thanked the US government for giving him a "comfortable, convenient, safe and dignified" transit stay in San Francisco, emphasizing that such a foundation of mutual trust should not be easily impaired.
Chen said that he would keep the promises he made to the US government and US President George W. Bush.
Meanwhile, Chen said that he was following the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to personally attend the inauguration with the aim of consolidating ties with Nicaragua.
During his meeting with Morales, Chen said that the vice president told him that they plan to relocate the presidential office and turn the old one into the "Home of Taiwan" dedicated to the care of the underprivileged.
also see stories:
AIT chairman poised for New Year visit
Taiwan's Congress friends plan early push
No rest for president during US stop
DPP decries Chiang relative's criticism during Chen's visit
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
Parts of the nation, including in the south, could experience temperatures as low as 7°C early tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. A strong continental cold air mass coupled with the effect of radiative cooling would bring cold weather to several northern cities and counties, and could even affect areas as far south as Tainan early tomorrow, the CWA said. Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties would experience temperatures below 10°C until this evening, according to cold surge advisories issued by the weather agency. The weather across the nation is forecast to remain
RSS