Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei arrived in Taiwan for a state visit on Monday to strengthen diplomatic ties with the self-ruled island that very rarely hosts world leaders.

Images released by Taiwan's Foreign Ministry showed Giammattei being escorted by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu upon arriving at Taoyuan International Airport.

Why is the Guatemalan president in Taiwan?

Before leaving for Taipei, Giammattei said he was making the trip to send a "clear message that countries have a right to self-governance."

Guatemala is one of only 13 countries to recognize the sovereignty of Taiwan, a list that has shrunk in recent years as Beijing moves to isolate Taipei on the international stage.

During his visit Monday through Thursday, Giammattei is scheduled to address Taiwan's parliament and visit a technology company in Taichung, south of Taipei. He is also set to attend an event promoting Guatemalan coffee, according to the Taiwanese president's office.

Guatemalan Economy Minister Janio Rosales, who is accompanying Giammattei, said his country did not have a debt problem with Taiwan, like Honduras, but did want more balanced trade, as Guatemala runs a trade deficit with the island.

"We want to have a better balanced trade, so what we are promoting is for more investment from enterprises from Taiwan to Guatemala and to extend cooperation between the two countries. It has been a great alliance," he said.

What China said about the Guatemalan president's visit to Taiwan

Giammattei's visit angered China, which considers democratic Taiwan part of its territory to be retaken one day. Beijing insists countries choose between formal diplomatic ties with China or Taiwan.

Beijing said switching recognition to China — a major trading partner for the Central American nation — would be "in line with the fundamental interests of Guatemala and the aspirations of its people."

"Taiwan's independence and secessionist movement goes against the tide of history and is nothing but a self-deceiving trick by the Democratic Progressive Party authorities," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters. "It cannot stop the historical trend of China's inevitable reunification."

Meanwhile, Taiwan's government says only the island's people can decide their future. Earlier this month, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen visited Guatemala and Belize — the only other Central American country to retain diplomatic ties with Taiwan since Honduras shifted its allegiance to China last month.

On her way back to Taipei, Tsai stopped in the United States to meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. In response, China staged three days of military exercises simulating targeted strikes and a blockade of the island.

Paraguay's Taiwan dilemma

Before Honduras, four other countries in the region, Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Nicaragua, switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in recent years.

Taiwan's 65-year-old ties with Paraguay are also at risk, with opposition candidate Efrain Alegre reportedly saying he would shift recognition to Beijing if elected in presidential elections on April 30.

Pressure inside the South American nation has been rising, especially from its powerful agricultural lobby, to flip ties to China and open up the Asian country's lucrative markets to Paraguay's soybeans and beef, its main exports.

Taipei said last week it was "perplexed" by the position taken by Paraguay's opposition and it would do its utmost to maintain its diplomatic ties with the country.

At present, Taiwan maintains diplomatic relations with 13 rather small countries: the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu in the Pacific; Eswatini in Africa; Vatican City in Europe; Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Beijing has spent decades convincing Taipei's diplomatic allies to switch sides. 

dh/msh (AFP, Reuters)