He President of Taiwan, William Lai (Lai Ching-te), stressed on Tuesday his intention to “deepen” the bilateral cooperation and strengthen the “amistad” existing with Guatemalaone of the sweet diplomatic allies that preserves the island.
“I firmly believe that Taiwan y Guatemala will continue to advance together on the path of growth, and that there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome if both countries work together,” said the Taiwanese president at the Taipei Presidential Palacewhere he received the president of the Congress of Guatemala, Nery Ramos.
During his speech, Lai defined the Central American country as a “solid ally” of Taiwan, with which it shares “universal values such as freedom and democracy”, and thanked the Congress of Guatemala for supporting the island’s international participation through various resolutions.
“I hope that, with the support of the president, Ramos and all the visitors, Taiwan y Guatemala can deepen their cooperation in all areas and continue to strengthen their friendship“said the island leader, recalling that this year Taiwan has sent several delegations to Guatemala “to explore opportunities for cooperation in sectors such as textiles, coffee, seafood and the circular economy”.
Ramos, who began a five-day visit to the island on Monday along with a delegation from Guatemalan parliamentarians and politiciansstated that Guatemala “values greatly appreciated the cooperation with the Government and the people of Taiwan“in areas such as education, health and infrastructure construction.
“He people and the Government of Guatemala They will always be grateful to the people and the Government of Taiwan. The delegation of the Congress of Guatemala is here today to reaffirm its commitment that Taiwan will always be in foreground and that the friendship between Taiwan and Guatemala will last forever,” Ramos said, according to a statement released by the Presidential Office of Taiwan.
A relationship under the shadow of China
After coming to power in January of this year, Guatemalan President, Bernardo Arevalo de Leonreiterated its commitment to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan and at the same time expand the trade exchanges with China.
The Central American president did not attend Lai’s inauguration in person On May 20th, he sent his chancellor in his place, Carlos Ramiro Martinezwho months ago had expressed the interest of the Guatemalan Government for opening a business interests office with China without breaking its Connection with the island.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin He described Martinez’s visit to Taipei as a serious violation of the “one China principle” – by which the island is considered as a “parte inalienable“from Chinese territory” – and stressed that this situation It harmed cooperation between China and Guatemalaincluding the export of Guatemalan products to the Asian giant.
Diplomatic recognition of Taiwan has been reduced considerably In recent years due to the growing diplomatic pressure from China.
Currently, the island only maintains official ties with twelve states, seven of which (Paraguay, Guatemala, Belize, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts and Nevis) are located in Latin America and the Caribbean.
#Taiwan #hopes #deepen #cooperation #strengthen #friendship #Guatemala
