President Chen Shui-bian arrived at the international airport in Managua, Nicaragua on January 9 at 2 p.m. (January 10 at 4 a.m. Taipei time), marking the beginning of a three-day visit to that nation.
After his arrival, ROC (Taiwan) ambassador to Nicaragua, Hung Ming-ta, and the Director of Protocol of Nicaragua's Foreign Affairs Ministry Guillermo Perez boarded President Chen's plane and escorted him down the stairs. Nicaraguan Foreign Affairs Minister Norman Caldera was on hand to welcome President Chen on behalf of the Nicaraguan government. After receiving a salute from honor guards, President Chen greeted the Nicaraguan public and overseas compatriots at the airport.
After a brief rest at his hotel, President Chen visited a rehabilitation center for underprivileged children where he made a donation to the facility. He then met with and congratulated Nicaragua's Vice President-elect Jaime Morales Carazo back at his hotel. He also invited the vice president-elect to visit Taiwan and take advantage of the opportunity to experience Taiwan's development first hand by riding on Taiwan's high speed rail and seeing the Taipei 101 building, which is the world's tallest.
In the evening, the president visited the FSLN party headquarters where he met with and congratulated President-elect Comandate Daniel Ortega Saavedra. The two men then discussed a wide range of topics of mutual concern regarding cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.
Both the president- and vice president-elect stressed that Nicaragua has every intention of maintaining its diplomatic alliance with Taiwan. Both added that they hope to further bolster bilateral cooperation and exchanges on the existing foundation of friendship, with the aim of promoting wellbeing for the people of both countries.
Later in the evening, President Chen hosted a dinner for overseas compatriot leaders in Nicaragua, members of Taiwan's diplomatic corps there as well as staff of Taiwan's technical assistance mission to Nicaragua. During the gathering, President Chen said that everyone knows that the FSLN maintains exchanges with the Chinese Communist Party and that the two parties previously held talks in Mexico. President Chen said that President-elect Ortega told him, however, that after his inauguration, the new Nicaraguan administration will continue to maintain diplomatic relations with the ROC (Taiwan) government. While the new government will welcome Beijing to set up a trade office in Managua, China has yet to make a formal reply, he said.
President Chen said President-elect Ortega also mentioned that the FSLN would like to have exchanges with Taiwan political parties in the future. President Chen said the two nations still have many discussions to hold on cooperative arrangements in the areas of economics, health and agriculture. He added that he hopes that people from Taiwan living in Nicaragua will also make an effort to further strengthen ties between the two nations.