Taiwan is to continue to deepen ties with Guatemala no matter which candidate wins the second round of its presidential election, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday amid tumult following the first round of the Central American ally’s election last month.
Former Guatemalan first lady Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arevalo of the Movimiento Semilla received the most votes in the first round of the election held on June 25 and advanced to a second round, which is scheduled for Aug. 20.
A court suspended the legal status of the Movimiento Semilla party on the grounds that a large number of signatures were allegedly illegally gathered to allow the party’s formation, but the nation’s top electoral body finally certified the results of the election on July 12, ensuring Arevalo’s qualification for the second round.
Photo: Reuters
The US said that it was “deeply concerned by efforts that interfere with the June 25 election result,” adding that “undermining the June 25 election would be a grave threat to democracy with far-reaching implications.”
The attempt to revoke the legal status of Movimiento Semilla might “put at risk the legitimacy of the electoral process at the core of Guatemala’s democracy,” US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on July 13.
Nations including Germany, Canada, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Chile and Norway all expressed concerns over the suspension, while the Washington-based Organization of American States called for “free and transparent” measures to complete the election process.
Asked about the issue in Taipei, Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs head Cheng Li-cheng (鄭力城) yesterday told a regular news conference that democracy is a universal principle that members of the international community abide by.
The ministry called on all parties to follow the mechanism of democratic rule of law to resolve the dispute, he said.
Taiwan respects the judicial and electoral operations of Guatemala, and the results of the free will of the Guatemalan people and democratic procedures, he added.
The ministry would monitor the situation closely, Cheng said, adding that the government would continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Guatemalan government based on shared values and the long-standing diplomatic partnership no matter who came out on top of the election next month.
Arevalo, the son of Guatemala’s first democratically elected president, Juan Jose Arevalo, visited Taiwan while serving as a deputy minister of foreign affairs in the 1990s.
Despite unpromising poll results prior to the first round of the election, Arevalo secured a surprise victory with his hard-line anti-corruption stance.
He said that he would pursue closer trade relations with China if he wins the presidential election.
Torres told Japanese media that if elected president, she would bolster Guatemala’s diplomatic and commercial ties with Taiwan, and consider establishing a special economic zone with preferential taxes to attract more Taiwanese investment.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as