Guatemala says Taiwan's Tsai to visit, no word on any U.S. stop

Reuters

Published Dec 05, 2016 06:01PM ET

Guatemala says Taiwan's Tsai to visit, no word on any U.S. stop

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen will visit diplomatic ally Guatemala next month, the foreign minister said on Monday, but it was unclear if she would also go to the United States after a phone call with President-elect Donald Trump raised sensitivities in Sino-U.S. relations.

Tsai is due to visit Guatemala on Jan. 11-12, Foreign Minister Carlos Raul Morales told Reuters. He gave no details on what President Jimmy Morales and Tsai would discuss.

Taiwan's Liberty Times, considered close to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, reported on Monday that Tsai was planning to transit in New York early next month on her way to visit three diplomatic allies in Central America - Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.

El Salvador's government said it was working with Taiwan on plans for a visit by Tsai in the second week of January, but gave no specific dates.

The government of Nicaragua had no immediate comment. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is set to be sworn in for a third consecutive term on Jan. 10, however, and so Tsai's trip to Guatemala would dovetail with the ceremony timing-wise.

The trip would take place before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 and Tsai's delegation would seek to meet with Trump's team, including Reince Priebus, Trump's White House chief of staff, the Liberty Times report said.

Taiwan's Presidential Office said media reports about a January trip were "excessive speculation". It said it would announce any presidential trips at the appropriate time.

The White House said on Monday it had sought to reassure China after Trump's phone call with Tsai last week, which the Obama administration warned could undermine progress in relations with Beijing.

The call with Taipei was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president with a Taiwanese leader since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China." China regards Taiwan as a renegade province.