(dpa) - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, on his first overseas trip since taking offce on May 20, is to depart Tuesday afternoon to visit three Latin American countries.
Seeking to boost diplomatic ties for internationally isolated Taiwan, the main purpose of Ma's trip is to attend the inauguration of Paraguayan President-elect Fernando Lugo on Friday and the inauguration of Dominican President Leonel Fernandez Reyna for his third term in the Caribbean republic.
On his way from the US to Paraguay, Ma's chartered plane will make a refuelling stop in Panama, where and Ma and President Martin Torrijos will hold talks at a Panamanian airport.
Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Panama are among the 23 countries that recognize Taiwan, formally called the Republic of China (ROC).
China, which sees Taiwan as its breakaway province, is wooing these nations to drop formal relations with Taipei and recognize Beijing, and has accused Taiwan of using chequebook diplomacy to preserve ties with its diplomatic allies.
However, Taiwan has made it clear that Ma will not announce new aid to the three countries on this week's visit to Latin America.
"President Ma will not announce new aid on his visit. If they make the request, we will bring back the requests and review them," Freogin Minister Hou Ching-shan said Monday.
Ma and his 81-member delegation will make a transit stop Tuesday in Los Angeles en route to Latin America, and an overnight stop Sunday in San Francisco.
He may meet some US officials or members of Congress, but there will be no public activities or meeting the press, as requested by Washington, which has formal ties with China.
Ma will return on August 19 to Taipei.
Analysts said that Ma's trip will be a balancing act to save ties with the three Latin American allies, to improve ties with the US and to please China, as Ma is seeking to ease tension across the Taiwan Strait.
Since his inauguration in May, Ma has been calling for peace with China while insisting that Taiwan is a sovereignty country that should not be isolated in the world.
Ma has urged the US to speed up arms sales to Taiwan so that the island can defend itself from China in case of attack.