The first quadrilateral talks between Taiwan, the US, Guatemala and Honduras took place on Tuesday in Guatemala during Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu’s (吳釗燮) visit to the nation’s Central American allies, Wu wrote on Twitter yesterday.
Wu led a delegation to attend the inauguration of Guatemalan President Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei and Vice President Guillermo Castillo, before visiting Honduras.
While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday issued a news release saying that Wu had made a fruitful diplomatic trip, meeting with the leaders and high-ranking officials of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, it was Wu’s tweet that revealed the quadrilateral talks involving the US.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuen, Taipei Times
“The 1st #Taiwan #US #Guatemala #Honduras quadrilateral talks focused on advancing regional cooperation & development. Very proud to work with like-minded partners,” Wu wrote on the ministry’s Twitter account.
The four-way talks followed the inauguration ceremony, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement yesterday.
The talks were attended by Wu, Giammattei, Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Pedro Brolo, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Lisandro Rosales, Acting US Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and US International Development Finance Corp (IDFC) chief executive Adam Boehler, the statement said.
Their discussions focused on Taiwan and the US jointly promoting partnerships with Guatemala and Honduras in trade, investment, infrastructure and other areas, it said.
The talks set up a multilateral cooperation mechanism that is extraordinarily meaningful, it added.
The ministry is glad to work with the US to promote cooperation programs with the nation’s diplomatic allies, and to continue to boost the prosperity and development of Central America, the statement said.
Wu is scheduled to return to Taiwan tomorrow, the ministry said.
A joint statement by US President Donald Trump and Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez on Dec. 13 last year said that the IDFC would finance the construction of a medical center in Asuncion and offer technical support alongside Taiwan.
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