In a goodwill gesture, Ortega visited Ma at the hotel on Saturday morning to apologize for his absence at a state banquet for Ma that he was supposed to host a day earlier.

He also drove Ma to several activities, including a luncheon in honor of Taiwanese expatriates in Nicaragua and a site dedication ceremony for a product display center on the same day.

Ortega's absence fueled growing media speculation of possible tensions between Nicaragua and Taiwan.

In apologizing to Ma, the Nicaraguan president explained that he was unable to attend the state banquet mainly because he was tied up with intensive discussion with Honduran President Manuel Zelaya all night about the situation in Honduras, which Ortega said could have consequences for the region, especially for Nicaragua.

Zelaya was ousted in a military coup June 28 when troops arrested him and sent him into exile in Costa Rica.

Ortega said the two spoke all night about the situation before he saw Zelaya off Saturday to Washington D.C., with Zelaya able to attend an emergency meeting over the Honduran coup held by the Organization of American States.

He also openly explained to Taiwanese expatriates at the luncheon about his absence and expressed his recognition of the diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Nicaragua.

He praised Taiwanese expatriates' contributions to the development of his country. Not until Ma's chartered plane took off did Ortega leave the airport in the capital city of Managua. Ma and his entourage arrived in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua July 3 for a two-day visit — the second leg of his two-country Central American tour after Panama.

He is scheduled to return to Taiwan July 6 after a transit stay in Hawaii.

On Friday, Ortega also personally drove Ma to Masatepe, a small town near Managua, where he showed Ma the results of a red bean growth and processing project that is being operated jointly by a Taiwanese technical delegation and local authorities in line with the country's anti-poverty program.

Accepting Ortega's apology and explanation, Ma said that Taiwan will continue to strengthen its cooperation with Nicaragua. Ma promised to study the feasibility of providing assistance for establishing the product display center.

The US$3.7 million center will be completed in a year and will house 1,500 exhibition booths, 60 fast food vendors, a 3,000-seat outdoor performance venue and a 400-space parking lot.

Concerns

Ma expressed, earlier, his concern after Ortega did not meet him at the airport upon arriving in Managua Friday morning and skipped a state banquet he was supposed to host for Ma later in the day, according to a senior official.

Following Ortega's perceived snubs Friday, Taiwan demanded a clear apology from Nicaragua's government and threatened to suspend aid to the country if Ortega did not show up as scheduled to attend a site dedication ceremony for a product display center, a government source said Saturday in Managua.

After realizing Taiwan's strong feelings on the matter, Ortega headed Saturday to the hotel where Ma was staying to offer his profound apology for not appearing at the banquet.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries will be in no way affected after Ma accepted Ortega's explanation and apology for his failure to appear at the state banquet, the senior official confirmed.

Speculation has arisen, however, that Ortega's absences could be in response to attempts by Ma's administration to track remittances made by the administration of former President Chen Shui-bian to Nicaragua that did not conform with normal diplomatic practice.

Upon his arrival at the hotel, the Nicaraguan president hugged Ma warmly and chatted with his Taiwanese counterpart for 10 minutes before personally driving him to a banquet hosted by Taiwan's expatriate community in the Central American country and then attending the product display center ceremony, according to the official.

Taking blame

At the banquet, Ortega gave assurances that Nicaragua would maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan's ambassador to Nicaragua, Wu Ching-mu, offered to resign on Friday night from his post to take responsibility for Ortega's absence.

The Nicaraguan leader also made a personal apology to Wu by hugging him and saying that he himself should shoulder the blame for causing so much trouble.

Orgeta praised Wu for his hard work in arranging Ma's visit to Nicaragua.

Accepting Ortega's explanation, President Ma said that he could understand the importance of the meeting between Ortega and Zelaya because it is closely related to the future of the two countries.

Taiwan's U.N. role

When speaking with Taiwanese community leaders in Nicaragua, Ortega reiterated his country's friendship with Taiwan and its determination to support Taiwan's efforts to be integrated into the international community.

He said that Taiwan's 23 million people should not be excluded from important international organizations such as the United Nations.

Based on solid relations between the two countries, Nicaragua and Taiwan will further bolster bilateral exchanges, particularly in the fields of trade, agriculture and education, Ortega stressed.

He welcomed Ma's proposal, made earlier in the day, to have Nicaraguan students to pursue advanced studies in Taiwan, and Nicaraguan citizens to receive vocational training in Taiwan.

“This is very good method to strengthen cultural exchanges between the two countries,” Ortega said.

He also praised Ma's “modus vivendi” diplomatic approach and “diplomatic truce” concept in dealing with China, saying it has resulted in improved relations across the Taiwan Strait and contributed to regional stability.

He lauded the contributions that Taiwanese expatriates have made to Nicaragua. He said that ethnic Chinese immigrants in Nicaragua, whether from Taiwan or China, are all Nicaraguan citizens and have all made valuable contributions to Nicaragua's development.