The international community should support Taiwan in the face of threats from China, visiting Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei told the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
Giammattei, in a speech that made him the first head of state to address the legislature in 13 years, called on the international community and “the free world” to rally in support of Taiwan, which he said had long faced threats from across the Taiwan Strait.
Guatemala’s position has been to recognize and support the Republic of China (ROC) as an independent nation, Giammattei said.
Photo: CNA
He also underscored what he described as the importance of the international community respecting Taiwan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The 67-year-old president added that his current visit at the head of an official delegation was a testament to Guatemala’s opposition to “foreign aggression.”
Giammattei’s visit to Taiwan comes just weeks after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) traveled to Guatemala as part of her 10-day overseas trip and one month after another Central American nation, Honduras, switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
Photo: CNA
Giammattei said that while other nations had placed interests above friendship and changed allegiances, Guatemala, which established diplomatic relations with the ROC in 1933, remained committed to Taiwan.
Describing Taiwan as a longstanding strategic partner of Guatemala, Giammattei pledged to continue promoting the bilateral relationship between the two nations.
He also expressed gratitude for the Taiwanese government’s financial support for Guatemala over the years, including an estimated US$90 million in aid between 2013 and 2021, as well as scholarships given to young Guatemalans to study in Taiwan.
His speech, which was met with a standing ovation from lawmakers across party lines, was praised by Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) as “significant” at a time when “the expansion of authoritarianism has shrunk the space for democracies” in the world.
You also conferred an honorary medal on Giammattei in recognition of his contributions to “the promotion of friendship and cooperation between Taiwan and Guatemala.”
Giammattei in the morning was welcomed by Tsai with a military salute at the Presidential Office Building.
The two held bilateral talks later in the afternoon, during which Tsai conferred upon Giammattei the Order of Brilliant Jade with Grand Cordon in recognition of his contributions to the friendship between the two nations.
Tsai said that Taiwan and Guatemala had weathered the COVID-19 pandemic together, and are continuing to deepen cooperation in areas including economic affairs, public healthcare and medicine, culture and education.
Giammattei said that the alliance between the two nations is founded on a shared belief in mutual respect and support, upholding national sovereignty and the pursuit of democracy.
The nations’ bilateral relationship is based on proactive, steady and long-term diplomatic engagement and broad cooperation, rather than “frivolous diplomatic language,” he said.
He concluded his remarks by saying: “Long live free, sovereign and democratic Taiwan.”
Giammattei arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a four-day visit that includes meetings with government officials, Guatemalan students and representatives from Taiwanese companies present in the Central American nation.
The delegation includes Guatemalan Congressional President Shirley Joanna Rivera Zaldana, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Adolfo Bucaro Flores and Minister of Economy Janio Moacyr Rosales Alegria.
Additional reporting by Kayleigh Madjar
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
INDUSTRIAL CLUSTER: In Germany, the sector would be developed around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s plant, and extend to Poland and the Czech Republic The Executive Yuan’s economic diplomacy task force has approved programs aimed at bolstering the nation’s chip diplomacy with Japan and European nations. The task force in its first meeting had its operational mechanism and organizational structure confirmed, with Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) the convener, and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Minister Without Portfolio Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) the deputy conveners. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) would be the convener of the task force’s strategy group in charge of policy planning for economic diplomacy. The meeting was attended by the heads of the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the
RSS