All Ou said about how he would planned to maintain ties with San Salvador was that he would follow the "Paraguay"� formula.
He didn't elaborate.
But his spokesman did for him. Henry Chen said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) would help Funes acquire a full understanding of cooperative projects between the two countries and "strengthen bilateral cooperation."�
By strengthening bilateral cooperation Chen means Taiwan would offer more "assistance"� to El Salvador. Well, more aid was promised Paraguay and Asuncion didn't de-recognize Taipei.
Taiwan tooted it as a diplomatic success. President Ma Ying-jeou's "diplomatic truce"� is in place, political pundits say.
One thing they forget is Chinese President Hu Jintao didn't want to embarrass Ma, who was just inaugurated. Ma certainly is a much more China-friendly president than Chen Shui-bian.
As a result, Hu didn't let China outbid Taiwan in assistance to Paraguay. He wanted a "honeymoon"� with Ma, who had extended his friendship towards China.
The honeymoon may end anytime, however. Hu wants Ma to reconfirm the Kuomintang's fundamental policy of eventual unification with China. Ma has dithered on this. His China policy is "no unification, no independence (for Taiwan) and no war (across the Taiwan Strait.)"�
Though both Hu and Ma have gone on the record to say that they would like to sign a "peace accord"� as towards eventual unification, President Ma has taken no action on this whatsoever.
Hu is getting impatient. He may end the honeymoon and resort to one-upmanship in the Taipei-Beijing diplomatic game. If he raises the ante, San Salvador will be more than willing to cut off diplomatic ties with Taipei. In fact, Chen called for Beijing's "cooperation"� in keeping diplomatic ties between Taipei and San Salvador. Taipei hopes Beijing won't cause one of its 23 diplomatic allies to defect.
"In an atmosphere created by the diplomatic truce,"� Chen said, "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will actively develop economic and trade relations with countries with which we have no diplomatic relations."�
"The Ministry of Foreign Relations believes the other side of the Strait should also have this understanding,"� Chen added.Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click hereSharePrintEmailWrite a CommentEnter your comments - 3000 characters maxType in image codeSubmit Receive China Post promos Respond to this email Also in Joe HungUpdated Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:14 pm TWN▪China may stop poaching Taiwan's allies▪Translation, transliteration lesson▪Kuomintang is afraid of losing Taipei County after fiasco in Miaoli▪Liu wants joint efforts on amateur baseball squad▪'R.O.C.' is now Beijing's oxymoronMoreMost Read▪Ma vows to ease investment rules▪U.S. welcomes stable cross-strait ties: AIT▪Lawmaking panel slashes credit card interest rate to 12.5%▪More bins to be installed to cope with increased cigarette litter▪Number of cross-strait flights likely to triple this year: official Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Subscribe | Advertise | RSS Feed | About Us | Read Full Article »
