Reports from an international affairs think tank and Spanish-language news media have brought to attention how China might leverage its economic power to undermine Taiwan’s relationship with Guatemala, one of the nation’s last remaining diplomatic allies in Central America.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo has publicly stated he supports his country’s ties to Taiwan, but with China’s capacity to offer financial incentives and its growing influence in the region, it could apply pressure to the country’s political establishment that could potentially lead to the establishment of diplomatic ties.
A recent report from Geopolitical Intelligence Services (GIS), a think tank founded by Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, points to Guatemala’s close ties with the US, which has repeatedly urged the Central American country to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Photo: Bloomberg
Although Arevalo won 58 percent of the vote in the presidential election last year, the Guatemalan Congress is controlled by opposition parties, which has led to repeated political deadlock.
If Arevalo seeks additional funds to implement his political agenda over the complaints of the legislature, he could look to China as a source of backing, which would inevitably lead to a recalibration in the country’s formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the report said.
In recent years, China’s profile in Central America has grown substantially. It has poached several of Taiwan’s former diplomatic allies, such as El Salvador and Honduras, and made major investments in countries such as Costa Rica, also a former diplomatic ally which severed relations with Taiwan in 2007.
Diario Las Americas, a US-based Spanish-language newspaper, published a report on Sept. 9 which quoted two experts from Latin American think tank Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America detailing how countries in the region have grown closer to China in hopes of economic benefits, but have so far seen little results from increasing engagement.
The article raises concerns regarding China’s impact on the region’s socio-environmental systems, workers’ rights and wages, and the lack of transparency in how these countries engage with China.
In recent free-trade agreements (FTA) signed with Costa Rica, Chile and Peru, China has been the primary beneficiary of all three deals, the article states.
In Costa Rica in particular, China’s FTA was a major political victory as the country was the first “domino” to fall in the region and switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, the article says.
However, since the FTA was signed in 2010, Costa Rica’s trade deficit to China has grown, exports to China have lagged significantly behind exports to the US, and China has yet to make significant investments in the country, the piece adds.
The piece warns that short-term profits from closer ties to China run counter to national interests, and that while China advocates for “win-win” relations, the evidence has yet to materialize.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
RSS