Posted on 03/19/2009 4:10:40 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
President-elect Mauricio Funes Wednesday said he will consider establishing diplomatic relations with China when he takes office on June 1.
Funes, who heads the FMLN leftist rebel group-turned political party, said he would discuss San Salvador's links with Beijing with Taiwan's envoy as well as with Chinese officials in the Salvadoran capital.
But he insisted the "type of relation" his incoming government will establish with Taiwan and Beijing "will be dealt with later on" in his administration.
Funes said however that he is "interested in closer" trade relations with China, given its immense market of more than 1.3 billion people.
There have been no relations between El Salvador and China since its communist revolution of 1949, but there has been growing pressure from the business community on outgoing President Antonio Saca to at least consider the possibility.
Costa Rica is the only Central American nation that maintains diplomatic relations with China, rather than Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory waiting to be unified.
On Tuesday, Taiwan said it expected its diplomatic ties with El Salvador to remain unchanged despite the Funes triumph over the Taipei-friendly ARENAS conservative party in Sunday's presidential polls.
"We believe the diplomatic ties would not change," Taiwan's foreign ministry spokesman Henry Chen told AFP.
Funes overturned almost 20 years of right-wing rule Sunday when he and his ex-rebel FMLN party beat Rodrigo Avila of the ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).
What’s Latin for “Rome is burning”?
barackushusseinusobmamanus From Wiley E Coyote.
And why shouldn’t they? China, with a vibrant economy is just struggling up & out of over 50 years of socialism and looks strong.
The US is collapsing in socialism, and looks weak. The US elected a President who can’t even speak coherent sentences without a teleprompter or a radio receiver in his ear, and in the worst finacial crisis in at least 50 years picks a tax cheat to run the country’s finances.
Well, Duh! Who would anybody pick, given that choice? Even historically strong allies will be deserting the US before too much longer, get used to it, America!
Grantee that they also reach out to Russia, the other Commie on the block. They will probably get one million AK-103’s out of the deal, just like Chavez.
By the time O and the EU get done, Russia and China will be the only viable economies...
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