Yahoo TV

STORY: Speaking in Spanish, he referred twice to the "Republic of Taiwan", rather than its official name the Republic of China, generally stylized these days by the government as the Republic of China, Taiwan.

Guatemala's relations with the Republic of China go back nine decades, before the government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists who set up the People's Republic of China.

Guatemala is one of only 13 countries with official diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan. Honduras abandoned Taipei for Beijing last month after asking for almost $2.5 billion in aid.

China views Taiwan as its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state, and has condemned Giammattei's trip.