The Foreign Affairs Minister of Taiwan, Jaushieh Joseph Wu, met recently with top government officials in El Salvador and Belize.

In El Salvador, Wu met with President Salvador Sanchez Ceren as well as his counterpart, Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Castaneda, and other government officials, according to Taiwan Today.

“We are grateful for President Salvador Sanchez Ceren’s ongoing support of Taiwan,” Wu said. “Under his leadership, I am confident our friendship and cooperation with El Salvador will continue to deepen.”

In April, Taiwan gave more than US$ 2.2 million to El Salvador to support the National Literacy Plan and the “Promoting Institutional Capacities and Strengthening the Central American Integration Process” project.

In his first trip to Belize, Wu met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Wilfred Elrington, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, President of the Senate, and Cabinet members, according to Love FM.

“Taiwan ranks among Belize for most partner in development. Taiwan in variably accredits its finest diplomats to our country and those diplomats leave no stone unturned to ensure that Belize obtains the maximum benefits from Taiwan’s expansive menu of cooperation program. We want to thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign affairs for sending its smartest and its best to our country,” said Elrington.

During their meeting, Elrington conferred the Order of Distinction on Wu.

“I am profoundly honored that I will be receiving the Order of distinction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs especially from Minister Elrington directly today and I understand that these awards symbolizes the sound friendship in between Belize and the Republic of China Taiwan and affirms the successful development of our bilateral relationship and with that award as I told Minister Elrington a little bit earlier, I am ever more motivated to work on our bilateral relationship,” said Wu.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is likely to visit Belize and Paraguay next month. Paraguay President-elect Mario Abdo Benitez extended an invitation to Tsai to attend his inauguration ceremony on August 15. According to Taiwan News, Tsai’s office has not confirmed if she will attend the inauguration.

Ten of the 18 countries that recognize Taiwan are in Latin America and the Caribbean. Paraguay established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1957, El Salvador in 1961, and Belize in 1989.

Panama ended diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of relations with China last November. The Dominican Republic did the same in May.