Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan is a reliable ally ahead of diplomatic trip

Record ID: 163376

  • Title: Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan is a reliable ally ahead of diplomatic trip
  • Date: 7th January 2017
  • Summary: TAOYUAN, TAIWAN (JANUARY 7, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** TAIWAN PRESIDENT TSAI ING-WEN ARRIVING AT DEPARTURE HALL TSAI SHAKING HANDS WITH DELEGATION AND WALKING TO PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) TAIWAN PRESIDENT, TSAI ING-WEN, SAYING: "The four countries we will be visiting all have long-lasting friendships with the Republic of China (Taiwan). The aim of this trip is to again confirm this mutual, timeless, and deep friendship. So on this trip I will not only meet with all the allied heads of state, I will also have the opportunity to interact with heads of state and representatives of other nations, to show the international community that Taiwan is an able and responsible partner." BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) TAIWAN PRESIDENT, TSAI ING-WEN, SAYING: "We will discuss with the allied nations how to promote cooperation programs that are more suitable to mutual needs in the future. Our focus will be to strengthen economic and trade relations between (the countries), cooperate hand in hand and benefit from each other, so that the results of diplomatic relations can become a tangible gain of the countries." PRESIDENT TSAI WALKING INTO GATE
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 2017 03:11
  • Keywords: Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen USA South America official trip Honduras Nicaragua Guatemala El Salvador
  • Location: TAOYUAN, TAIWAN
  • City: TAOYUAN, TAIWAN
  • Country: Taiwan
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015Y2ZEX1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen embarked on a diplomatic trip to its allied nations Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador on Saturday (January 7), aiming to promote economic and trade relations.
    "The four countries we will be visiting all have long-lasting friendships with the Republic of China (Taiwan). The aim of this trip is to again confirm the mutual, timeless, and deep friendship. So on this trip I will not only meet with all the allied heads of state, I will also have the opportunity to interact with heads of state and representatives of other nations, to show the international community that Taiwan is an able and responsible partner," she told media before boarding.
    Tsai will transit through Houston and San Francisco during this visit to allies in Latin America, a move that has prompted China to repeat a call for the United States to block any such stopover.
    Taiwan's presidential office declined to comment on whether she would be meeting members of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's team.
    "We will discuss with the allied nations how to promote cooperation programs that are more suitable to mutual needs in the future. Our focus will be to strengthen economic and trade relations between (the countries), cooperate hand in hand and benefit from each other, so that the results of diplomatic relations can become a tangible gain of the countries," she said.
    China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing regards as an integral part of its territory, ineligible for state-to-state relations.
    The United States, which switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only "one China" and that Taiwan is part of it.
    China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communist forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island.
    Taiwan had as many as 30 diplomatic allies in the mid-1990s, but now has formal relations with 21, mostly smaller and poorer nations in Latin America and the Pacific and also including the Vatican.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register