The British “Financial Times” (Financial Times) pointed out today (3) that Taiwan may soon lose its allies again, including Paraguay, which will hold a presidential election at the end of April, and Guatemala, which President Tsai Ing-wen has just completed a visit to, will soon be in June. hold a general election. The article analyzed that the relationship between Taiwan and some friendly countries is mainly based on providing development assistance rather than investment. The article quoted a diplomat I stationed in Latin America as saying: “What they really want is not more aid, but trade and investment.”
The “Financial Times” pointed out that President Tsai Ing-wen was treated with a military salute when she visited Guatemala, a friendly country in Central America. Guatemala President Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei said in his welcome speech that Tsai Ing-wen’s visit was “extremely important” for Guatemala. China “can once again recognize and affirm that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country.”
The report described the scene as a “parallel reality” because only 13 countries recognize Taiwan in diplomatic relations, and other Western countries describe their relations with Taiwan as “unofficial”.
The “Financial Times” then pointed out that Taiwan may soon lose more diplomatic relations, including the South American friend Paraguay who will elect a new president on April 30. The opposition presidential candidate Efraín Alegre has already announced that he hopes Re-examining what could be gained by turning to Beijing, Paraguay’s livestock industry has long lobbied the government to expand into China, the world‘s largest importer of beef.
In addition, the article also named Guatemala, mentioning that Guatemala will hold a presidential election in June, but Jia Maidai has been unable to run again, making the future of Taiwan-Guatemala relations uncertain.
The article pointed out that most of Taiwan’s other diplomatic allies are poor and corrupt countries. In addition, Taiwan’s trade relations with the agricultural countries of Guatemala and Belize are negligible, and the relationship between the two sides is mainly based on Taiwan’s provision of development assistance.
For example, Grita Fuentes, a 28-year-old shoe designer in Gua, received a subsidy of US$3,000 (approximately NT$92,000) from me after the epidemic. ) as part of the post-pandemic aid package.
The report pointed out that although such subsidies convey Taiwan’s goodwill, they are dwarfed by the wealth that some countries hope to obtain from mainland China. .
The article pointed out that Taiwan is trying to provide alternatives. A diplomat based in a Latin American friendly country revealed, “What they really want is not more aid, but trade and investment.” “Although we can encourage our companies to take a look, but There is no way to force them to invest.”
Another diplomat revealed that some friendly countries hope that Taiwan’s technology companies will invest and even assist in building chip production capacity locally. “They require semiconductor factories, but that is unimaginable,” the diplomat explained. In other countries, it often happens that our companies find it difficult to invest. The main reason is that the local infrastructure is insufficient and the connection with the main market is lacking.
The article also mentioned that although Western diplomats and experts have urged Taiwan to prioritize establishing substantive exchanges with larger and more powerful countries, such as Taiwan’s deepened relations with Lithuania and the Czech Republic in recent years, these relations still cannot replace official diplomatic allies In addition to defending Taiwan on international occasions, these allies have no allies such as Guatemala and Belize, and the president cannot visit abroad. According to reports, my officials believe that this restriction will shake the morale of the people.
Article source: Taiwan clings to its rare diplomatic friends as China looms large
(Wu Yingfan, China Times News Network)
further reading
After severing diplomatic relations with me, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Honduras said that the president will visit China
Breaking up Honduras and Taiwan will be short of shrimp?The industry said so
Honduras cuts ties with foreign ministry: no competition with money from the other side
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