The Medina administration announced on Monday, 30 April 2018 that the Dominican Republic has ended diplomatic ties with Republic of China-Taiwan to sign on with the People’s Republic of China. This after 69 years of ties with Taiwan.
As part of the agreement, the Dominican government recognizes there is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China. Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ramón Peralta and Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado traveled to Beijing to sign the agreement.
The announcement was made at a press conference by Legal Advisor to the President Flavio Darío Espinal. Questions were not allowed.
“This is a decision taken after an in depth study of our future perspectives,” legal advisor Espinal had tweeted earlier. “China is the second economy in the world, leader in manufacturing and exports at a global level, factors that will generate economic and social benefits for our country.”
China had a commercial representation in the country. Bilateral trade with the People’s Republic of China is at around US$2 billion a year, most imports. At the press conference, Espinal said that even without diplomatic relations bilateral trade has grown every year and today China is the second supplier of Dominican imports. He highlighted that now with full relations, the potential for growth of our commercial ties is immense.
He said the government sees in the large Dominican-Chinese community naturals for strengthening the new relations. He said the government has expectations for expectations for increased Chinese cooperation in finances, agriculture, technology, tourism, education and energy sectors.
Campos de Moya, president of the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic said the move is positive and remarked that the DR could become the bridge for Chinese manufacturing to the Americas, according to a statement published on the Presidency website.
Fernando Capellán of Grupo M, the leading developer of joint Dominican Republic and Haiti free zone ventures, forecast that the fruits of the decision would be seen in the short term. Capellán is also president of the Association for Development of Santiago. “We are aware that at the same speed as China took on the manufacturing of the world from 2000 to 2015, at that same speed that manufacturing has to leave. For obvious reasons, they are consuming a lot and have another type of manufacturing. ” He added that, with the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Dominican Republic stands to gain by attracting light manufacturing that is leaving China.
Legal advisor Espinal expressed thanks to Taiwan for the cooperation received over years that has enabled the development of numerous important programs. “We deeply appreciate the cooperation that we have shared over the years and that has allowed the development of numerous programs of great importance for our country. However, history and socioeconomic reality now force us to change course,” he said.
The Dominican Republic was the largest economy that still had maintained relations with Taiwan. Taiwan continues to maintain diplomatic ties with Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Paraguay, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Taiwan Minister of Foreign Relations Joseph Wu announced the end to all Taiwan cooperation projects in the Dominican Republic. He said the government would close the embassy in the Dominican Republic. He blamed the switch on the more generous financial incentives and promises of investment and aid the Dominican government has received from the People’s Republic of China.
Read more in Spanish:
Presidencia
Presidencia
Presidencia
1 May 2018
