Panama Lawmakers Visit Taiwan Despite Chinese Pressure

TaiwanPlus News

A delegation of lawmakers from Panama has arrived in Taiwan, despite reported efforts by China to get the trip cancelled. They're set to meet with officials including Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao, and will visit some of Taiwan's high-tech hubs. Though Panama cut off formal ties with Taiwan in 2017, officials say the trip is aimed at increasing cooperation and understanding.

Transcript

00:00In a show of unofficial diplomacy, several politicians from the Central American country

00:05of Panama are in Taiwan. They're set to meet with several Taiwanese officials,

00:09including its vice president, and to visit some of the country's high-tech hubs.

00:13The foreign ministry says the goal of the trip is to deepen understanding of Taiwan's economic

00:18development and industries with the hope of increasing cooperation. It expressed hope the

00:23trip would be the beginning of more interactions between the government and people of both countries.

00:28What makes this visit so significant is that it's the first time Panamanian lawmakers have visited

00:33Taiwan since the country cut formal ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 2017. It's also caused a

00:39diplomatic spat with China, which allegedly pressured the lawmakers to cancel their visit.

00:45Beijing opposes its allies having any official interactions with Taiwan, which it claims as its

00:50territory. It's also stirred controversy within Panama, with President Jose Raul Molino saying

00:56he didn't approve of the trip. But Panama's foreign ministry appeared to hit back,

01:01saying it would not accept any pressure aimed at influencing its authorities' decisions and the

01:05lawmakers went ahead with the trip. One expert says the incident could indicate growing legislative

01:10support for Taiwan in Panama. The trip signals a quiet revival of Taiwan-Panama in formal ties

01:16and also demonstrates Panama's pragmatism in its foreign affairs direction by looking at different markets

01:21for cooperation opportunities, even those that it does not possess formal ties, and an attempt to

01:27address the over-economic reliance on China. This recent move by Panamanian legislators isn't isolated.

01:32It's one of the latest in a series of low-key exchanges like virtual talks and trade forums,

01:37suggesting a legislative pushback against the 2017 decision to end ties with Taipei.

01:42And this is not the only group of foreign lawmakers from countries without formal relations with Taiwan

01:47that are visiting right now. A cross-party delegation from Denmark is also in Taiwan,

01:52as well as legislators from Colombia, who just met with Taiwan's foreign minister.

01:56This also comes as several top Taiwanese officials have made visits to non-diplomatic allies in Europe

02:02recently, many of which have faced backlash from China. It appears to be part of a possible trend

02:08of countries willing to withstand Chinese pressure to interact with Taiwan on their own terms.

02:13Hank Hsu and Cadence Caranta for Taiwan Plus.

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