Nicaraguan vice president to lead delegation to Taiwan

Aug 2, 2007, 21:31 GMT

Managua - A Nicaraguan government delegation headed by Vice President Jaime Morales Carazo is to visit Taiwan in mid August, officials said Thursday in Managua.

Morales Carazo office said in a statement that he plans to travel to Taipei on August 12 for a 4-day visit to include meeting with Taiwan government officials. He will also attend an international gathering.

The trip comes in response to an invitation from Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, the statement said.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has insisted that he intends to maintain formal ties with Taiwan even after last month's move by Central American neighbour Costa Rica to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, thereby cutting official relations with Taipei.

Ortega said that Morales Carazo's visit 'will contribute in a positive way to preserving and increasing the fraternal relations of friendship and solidarity and valuable cooperation between both nations,' the statement said.

While in Taipei, Morales Carazo is to participate in the Second General Assembly of the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU), chaired by Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu.

The DPU, formed in August 2005, has 28 member countries and seeks to promote international dialogue for democracy and peace.

Nicaragua is one of 24 mostly small countries - half of them in Latin America and the Caribbean - with ties with Taiwan. China, which sees Taiwan as its breakaway province, is wooing these countries to drop Taipei and recognize Beijing.

The Taiwanese government recently donated 30 million dollars to Nicaragua to build a thermoelectric plant.

Taiwanese President Chen is set to attend the Sixth Taiwan-Central American and the Dominican Republic Leaders' Summit, scheduled for August 23-25 in Honduras.