Guatemala on Tuesday vowed to back Taiwan for the long haul, emphasizing its support for the island democracy at a moment when analysts say Taiwan’s support from a small number of other nations — especially in Latin America — is being peeled away by bribes from mainland China.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei pledged unconditional support for Taiwan during an official visit. The move comes weeks after Honduras ended its recognition of Taiwan, sparking outrage among Taiwanese leaders who said Honduran officials had demanded “billions of dollars” to continue backing the island in the face of pressure from China.
While China-Taiwan friction plays out a world away in Southeast Asia, competition between Taipei and Beijing is playing out in a Cold War-style battle for influence in Latin America, where the economic and diplomatic pull of China’s ruling Communist Party has made major inroads in recent years.
China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, has been stepping up efforts to isolate it internationally, and analysts say that means targeting the island’s few close allies in Latin America.
Guatemala is one of a dwindling number of nations that have official relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. U.S. and European officials have made high-profile visits to Taiwan over the past year to show support for the island in the face of Beijing’s intimidation campaign. However, the European Union and United States technically have official diplomatic relations with China, not Taiwan.
Taiwan is recognized diplomatically by just 13 nations, with Guatemala being the biggest Among others in the region are the tiny nations of Belize, Paraguay, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
“I would like to appeal to the international community and the free world that we should strive to respect Taiwan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Mr. Giammattei said in a speech to Taiwan’s legislature Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
The Guatemalan president expressed a “rock-solid friendship” with Taiwan.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited Guatemala and Belize this month on a tour aimed at shoring up relations with those nations. In Guatemala, Ms. Tsai visited a rural hospital built with a donation from Taiwan.
Ms. Tsai’s trip included a stop in California where she met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a move that drew condemnations from China, which responded with increased military exercises near Taiwan.
The status of Taiwan has been an increasingly heated friction point since last August when China responded to a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — the highest U.S. official to travel to Taipei in a quarter-century — by dramatically expanding the scope of its military drills and missile tests near the island.
The Biden administration has responded with increased U.S. military moves in the Pacific and ramped-up joint exercises with democratic allies on China’s periphery, including South Korea, Japan, Australia and the Philippines.
The issue of Taiwan’s status has become more vexing for Washington since 2019 when the Xi government began saying it reserves the right to use force to bring the island under its control if necessary.
President Biden has said publicly that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack from mainland China.
At the same time, administration officials have said the U.S. remains committed to the One China policy, under which Washington has long acknowledged Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China, even though the U.S. maintains informal diplomatic relations and substantial defense ties with Taipei and does not technically recognize Chinese sovereignty over it.
Taiwan and the U.S. have close economic ties. American companies rely heavily on Taiwan, the world’s leading manufacturer of semiconductor chips, which are vital to the production of smartphones, laptop computers, refrigerators and other everyday goods. The U.S. defense industry also relies on the chips.
