How substantial an effect will Hong Kong's 1997 changing of the guard have on Taiwan's foreign diplomacy? This pressing national question has been at the forefront of people's minds in Taiwan over the past few months.

Despite the atmosphere of impending confrontation that has existed across the Taiwan Strait, two diplomatic partners which have continued to provide the ROC with strong support on the international scene sent presidential delegations to visit Taiwan in August. Answering an invitation by President Lee Teng-hui, the delegations visited the sites of various economic development projects, focusing on agriculture and the fishing industry. The visits were a welcome reminder of the resilience of the ROC's diplomatic ties with Central America.

Taiwan's diplomatic exchange with Central American heads of state has been quite frequent of late. As a run-up to President Lee's trip to Central America in September, both Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo arrived in Taiwan August 5 for a five-day visit, and Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres Olsen and his wife came for another six days on the ninth, four and a half hours after Aleman's departure. The visiting presidents signed statements of mutual diplomatic support with the ROC, as well as agreements with the Executive Yuan Government Information Office to establish free flow of information between the ROC and the two nations. Both of these moves served to solidify the ROC's ties with Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Nicaraguan President Aleman presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony honoring the opening of the new Central American Commerce Office in Taipei on August 5. The opening of the office is one of four key steps in implementing Taiwan's "Program for Strengthening Economic Cooperation with Central America." It will work to promote trade, investment and tourism between Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and Taiwan, relying on the financial resources generated by the interest from a fund set up by the ROC and the five nations.

The Nicaraguan presidential delegation included National Assembly Speaker Ivan Escobar Fornos and his wife, Supreme Court President Guillermo Vargas Sandimo and his wife, Economic Development Minister Noel Sacasa, Agriculture and Husbandry Minister Mario D'Franco and others. In addition to visits to the ROC's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Kaohsiung port, the Kaohsiung branch of the MOEA Export Processing Zone Administration and the Taipei World Trade Center, President Aleman also presided over the opening ceremonies for the new Honorary Nicaraguan Consulate in Kaohsiung. In his remarks, President Aleman referred to Nicaragua's urgent need for ROC assistance in the country's economic development. He thanked Taiwan for the jobs it has created with its investment in Nicaragua, and expressed his hope that Taiwanese firms would continue to invest in his nation in the future.

Costa Rica's major political figures arrived in Taiwan on the heels of the departing Nicaraguan delegation. In addition to President Figueres, the delegation included Foreign Affairs Minister Fernando Naranjo and his wife, special envoy Mrs. Figueres (mother of President Figueres), the Education Minister, Foreign Trade Minister, Information Minister and an entourage of congressional members. President Figueres reflected on the more than ten years of formal diplomatic relations between Costa Rica and the ROC, noting that ties between the nations are becoming stronger and stronger, and have never once been broken.

After meeting with the Executive Yuan Council for Economic Planning and Development, Ministry of Economic Affairs and other governmental entities, the Costa Rican delegation turned its focus to Taiwan's high-technology industries, visiting such centers of high technology as Acer Sertek, Inc. and its computer plants, Industrial Technology Research Institute, National Chiao Tung University, National Tsinghua University, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park and National Taiwan Technology University.

President Figueres pointed out that Costa Rica is already Central America's center of investment in high-technology industries. Costa Rica is presently planning production of electric cars, and hopes Taiwanese firms will consider investment. President Figueres hopes that ROC-Costa Rican trade relations can be strengthened in the future-in addition to being one of the ROC's "market providers," Costa Rica wants to become one of its "investment opportunity providers" as well. President Figueres also touched on the benefits of direct investment-eliminating tariffs and cutting transportation costs-in an effort to pique Taiwanese firms' interest in investing in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres Olsen and his wife are received with an elegant military ceremony for their visit to Taiwan. President Figueres focused his visit on several of Taiwan's centers of high technology, hoping that technology can become a bridge to strong economic ties between the two countries. (photo by Pan Hua)