Taiwan ally Guatemala mulls commercial ties with China: Report

Guatemala’s foreign minister told Reuters on Monday that the nation is exploring developing official commercial links with China, but that it intends to preserve its current connections with Taiwan.

The Central American country is one of Taiwan’s few surviving allies, as countries increasingly align with the world’s second largest economy, China, which claims democratically controlled Taiwan as its own.

“We are going to continue working with Taiwan at the levels we have been doing,” Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez said in an interview. “But the president has pointed out that we cannot ignore the weight and power China represents.”

Amidst a difficult transition process, President Bernardo Arevalo took office in mid-January with the promise to eradicate corruption and forge connections with China.

“We are interested in approaching them to try and develop some relationship around trade,” Martinez said, saying this could materialize as an “office of trade interests” that would help find a Chinese market for Guatemalan products.

“We are making it public, this is not an ambush against Taiwan or the United States,” he added.

Despite the absence of official diplomatic ties, the United States remains Taiwan’s largest overseas supporter and a significant arms supplier to Taipei.

In Latin America, where nations have traditionally had greater relations to the United States, China has recently expanded its economic influence. Recently, a number of Central American nations have shifted their allegiance from Taiwan to China.

As for “chequebook diplomacy,” Taiwan has made it clear it no longer wishes to compete with China, which is a richer country.

Martinez hinted to a rights-based stance on immigration by declaring that the next government will not carry out the “repression” of previous ones, which included using tear gas on groups trying to enter Guatemala into the United States.

Cooperation on fighting corruption and drug trafficking will be key issues to discuss with US counterparts, Martinez added, noting that US aid channels which were frozen under the previous administration are being re-established.

“The doors of cooperation are being reopened,” he said.