Giammattei will visit Taiwan, despite warning from China

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei will visit Taiwan from April 24 to 26 to reaffirm the country’s support for the sovereignty of that territory and strengthen bilateral diplomatic relations, despite China’s recent warnings to the Central American nation.

The announcement comes two days after China’s foreign ministry said the Guatemalan government should not help what it called independence attempts by Taiwanese authorities.

“The president’s visit will reaffirm support for the sovereignty of the Republic of China, Taiwan, and will strengthen the 86 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations,” the Guatemalan presidency said in a statement on Friday.

The trip responds to the invitation made to Giammattei by the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, when the president visited the Latin American country earlier this month, as part of an American tour that had a controversial stopover in New York that displeased China.

The Asian giant’s warning to Guatemala was made on Wednesday by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin, in response to a question during a regular press conference about Giammattei’s planned visit, of which until Friday there had been no news. anticipated many details.

Guatemala is one of the 12 countries -plus the Vatican- with which Taiwan maintains diplomatic relations, a list from which its neighbor Honduras came out at the end of March, when this country broke diplomatic relations with Taipei to get closer to Beijing.

Giammattei will be received with military honors at the Taiwanese presidential house and will have a bilateral meeting with Tsai, after which there will be a statement to the media. The Guatemalan president will also deliver a speech and be decorated in the Legislative Yuan, according to the statement.

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