Taiwan's president leaves on first official trip overseas to visit allies in Central and Latin America
Tsai Ing-wen also due to meet US congressional delegation in Panama
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen embarked on her first overseas trip as the island’s leader on Friday, heading to diplomatic allies Panama and Paraguay.
Tsai said at Taoyuan International Airport that her trip was aimed at raising Taiwan’s international profile, visiting Taiwanese citizens and organisations based in the two countries and strengthening economic cooperation with Latin America.
She will make a stopover in Miami in the United States on her way to Panama and transit in Los Angeles on her way back. She is due to return to Taiwan on July 2.
Tsai will attend the opening ceremony of new locks on the Panama Canal, the largest expansion project of the waterway since its construction in 1914. Her schedule also includes a meeting with a US congressional delegation in Panama on Sunday.
Tsai will hold meetings with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela and leaders of the island’s diplomatic allies in Latin America attending the ceremony. They are the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, and Paraguay.
During her stay in Paraguay, Tsai will meet Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes Jara and deliver a speech at the country’s parliament on Tuesday.
Taiwan has 22 diplomatic allies, with 12 in Latin America and the Caribbean, six in the AsiaPacific region, three in Africa, and one in Europe.
Taiwan and the mainland have been governed separately since they split in 1949 following a civil war. Beijing has since endeavoured to diplomatically isolate Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province awaiting reunification.