Taipei, April 23 (CNA) President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei on Saturday said his upcoming visit to Taiwan is meant to reaffirm his country's support for the ally amid intensified cross-strait tensions.
Before departing for a four-day state visit in Taiwan from Monday through Thursday, Giammattei said in a tweet that he had prepared "suitcases full of emotions and good news to strengthen the ties and brotherhood between our nations."
"We are also going to Taiwan to send a very clear message to the world that countries have the right to govern themselves" and "their own territories will not be threatened," Giammattei said in the video on his Twitter account.
According to Taiwan's government, the April 24-27 state visit will be President Giammattei's first to Taiwan under his presidency. He had previously visited Taiwan in October 2019 as president-elect.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will welcome Giammattei with full military honors and a state banquet, and will confer upon him the Order of Brilliant Jade with Grand Cordon, according to Presidential Office spokeswoman Olivia Lin (林聿禪).
Instituted in 1933, it is the highest order presented by the Republic of China (ROC), the official name of Taiwan, and can be worn only by a head of state.
During his visit, Tsai will accompany Giammattei to visit RAC Electric Vehicles in Taichung and attend an event in Taipei marking the beginning of a month-long celebration of Guatemalan coffee culture and a coffee truck's journey around Taiwan, Lin said.
Members of Giammattei's delegation will include Congressional President Shirley Joanna Rivera Zaldaña, Foreign Minister Mario Adolfo Búcaro Flores, Minister of Public Finance Edwin Oswaldo Martínez Cameros, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Edgar René de León Moreno, and Minister of the Economy Janio Moacyr Rosales Alegría.
Giammattei's upcoming visit came after Tsai concluded a state visit to Guatemala and Belize earlier this month with stopovers in the United States before and after the trip.
Among the 13 countries that recognize the ROC (Taiwan) instead of the People's Republic of China, Guatemala and Belize are the only two in Central America, after Honduras switched allegiance to China late last month.
