Costa Rica sent officials to Taiwan for training: Report

Guatemala City, June 17 (CNA) Costa Rica recently sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, marking the first time the Central American country has done so since both countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week.

Five officials from the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) spent 23 days in Taipei in May undergoing a series of training sessions related to safeguarding Costa Rica's national security, La Nación reported on June 13, quoting unnamed sources.

No official confirmation has been given by the Costa Rican government.

In response, the Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested to the Central American country. In a statement issued later the same day, the embassy expressed its opposition to any official contact between Taiwan and Costa Rica while reiterating Beijing's stance that Taiwan is part of China.

Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (ROC), severed official diplomatic relations with Costa Rica in June 2007, ending 66 years of ties, after the latter changed allegiance to the People's Republic of China.

Asked to comment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) said the ministry has no information on the reported training program and thus no comment on the news report.

Meanwhile, the National Security Bureau (NSB) told CNA in a statement that as the nation's top intelligence agency, "it is its responsibility to promote international intelligence exchange and cooperation."

However, the NSB said it never "comments on individual cases" and therefore will not comment on the news report.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) had yet to provide an official response as of press time.

The La Nación report did not specify the name of the training program the officials undertook in Taiwan.

Taiwan's MND has had a regular training program titled "Foreign Friends Course" (遠朋班) since 1971 which allows officials from its Latin American allies and Spanish-speaking friendly countries to train in Taiwan.

The program later expanded by joining forces with MOFA in July 1995 and was renamed the "Foreign Friends National Development Course," according to the MND on its website.

In 2017, when receiving a group of participants to the program, then President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the program, which consists of a series of international training courses, dates back 46 years.

Among the trainees, five later became their countries' presidents and/or prime ministers and more than 80 served as cabinet members, according to Tsai.