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China signaled to
Panama to remain ROC ally: cable
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporter
Panama wished to switch diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China after
President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) took office in 2008, but decided against it partly
because of signals from Beijing about its reluctance to undermine cross-strait
relations, a diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks shows.
The confidential diplomatic cable on Panamaˇ¦s decision to maintain its relations
with Taiwan was sent to the US Department of State, the US Department of
Defense, the US National Security Council and the CIA from the US embassy in
Panama City on Feb. 23 last year.
The cable showed that another factor that helped Taiwan maintain diplomatic
relations with Panama was donations offered by Ma in January last year to the
administration of Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, who had publicly
talked about allying with China during his election campaign in 2009.
Then-US ambassador to Panama Barbara Stephenson said in the cable that the
Panamanian government had renewed its commitment to Taiwan despite public
statements by Martinelli in 2009 that the country would opt for formal
diplomatic ties with the -Peopleˇ¦s Republic of China (PRC).
Martinelli, who was inaugurated as president on July 1, 2009, has attempted to
follow through with his plan to recognize the PRC, but was told to stop by
Beijing, Stephenson said.
ˇ§Martinelli may have had in mind the type of cooperation that Costa Rica has
been enjoying with the PRC since establishing formal ties in 2007,ˇ¨ the cable
said.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias on Feb. 1 informed a Colombian diplomat that
Martinelli had told him that Panama wanted to follow Costa Ricaˇ¦s lead, but that
the Chinese had asked him to ˇ§remain calmˇ¨ and that for the time being the PRC
was not interested in furthering its diplomatic ties, the cable said.
Arias announced in June 2007 that his country would cut ties with Taiwan to
recognize China.
The cable said Panamanian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela told Stephenson on
Feb. 18 last year he had been told by his Chinese counterpart during a visit to
Asia the previous month that because of diplomatic overtures under way between
Beijing and Taipei, it was not the right time for Panama to recognize the PRC.
Chinese diplomats relayed to political officers in Costa Rica that the PRC was
concerned that diplomatic recognition from other Latin American countries might
damage their recently improved relations with Taiwan, the cable showed.
Stephenson also attributed the continuity of relations between the Taiwan and
Panama to donations offered by Taiwan to the Martinelli administration.
On Jan. 6 last year, Varela agreed to a ˇ§five-year cooperationˇ¨ plan that
included the donation of US$25 million for construction of a hospital on the
outskirts of Panama City in Chilibre-Las Cumbres, and a US$22 million executive
business jet.
The cable said Varelaˇ¦s confirmation that ties with Taiwan would continue came
shortly after Taiwan gave the Panamanian government an Embraer Legacy 600
executive business jet as a gift in December 2009.
The Taiwanese government has used financial incentives to sweeten its
relationship with Panama. Political science professor Miguel Antonio Bernal
estimated aid to be at US$125 million a year during the previous administration
of Panamanian president Martin Torrijos, the cable said.
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