Taipei: Guatemala's Foreign Minister Mario Bucaro announced on Tuesday that the Central American nation would "always support" Taiwan after Beijing conducted its biggest-ever military exercise around the self-ruled island earlier this month.
Bukaro told Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen that Guatemala and Taiwan were "like-minded countries" bound by a "democratic alliance" when they were meeting at the presidential office in Taipei.
According to Bucaro, because of our steadfast adherence to the ideals of peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Guatemala will always support Taiwan.
"Peace is not negotiable, but sovereignty in particular is not negotiable."
The comments come soon after Beijing ended a series of military exercises around Taiwan in retaliation for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island in early August.
However, he claimed that the purpose of his visit to the island was to "show the world the importance of showing solidarity to the people of Taiwan, in the belief that in the event of any conflict, only dialogue can prevail." The official made no mention of mainland China in his remarks.
In her remarks, Tsai drew attention to the fact that Taiwan was the first "Asian country" to visit Taiwan after Bukaro was appointed foreign minister. He also expressed gratitude to Guatemala for diplomatic support after Beijing's military exercises.
One of only three allies in Central America along with Honduras and Belize, Guatemala is one of only 14 countries with formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Beijing has increased pressure on Taiwan's remaining allies to win as the Taiwanese government strongly opposes Beijing's view that the island is one of its provinces and has no right to a state net.
Beijing and Nicaragua resumed diplomatic relations in December, and the government has publicly said it wants to reduce the number to zero.
The problem has wider geopolitical implications as Beijing's growing activity in Central America worries the US.
A US delegation made it clear that it wants the Central American nation to maintain its ties with Taiwan ahead of Honduras' presidential election in November.
Current President Xiomara Castro had floated the idea of moving from Taipei to Beijing during the election campaign, but has since backed Taiwan.
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