TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S new president sets off Tuesday on his first foreign trip, amid indications that one of his hosts could be ready to switch diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing.

Mr Ma Ying Jeou will be travelling to Paraguay for the Aug 15 inauguration of President-elect Fernando Lugo and then on to the Dominican Republic for talks with President Leonel Fernandez.

In April, Mr Lugo said he would end Asuncion's 51-year relationship with Taipei and recognise Beijing. Since then, his foreign-minister-designate has indicated that she wants to 'review' Paraguay's ties to Taiwan.

Any change in Paraguay's relations would deal a bitter blow to Mr Ma's attempts to improve ties with China, the cornerstone of his three-month-old presidency.

Last month, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Francisco Ou said a Paraguay switch would indicate China was unwilling to consider the diplomatic truce Mr Ma sees as an essential part of his program.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. Since then, they have been engaged in a furious battle to win diplomatic allies around the world, often using liberal aid programs to cement ties.

Taiwan is now recognised by only 23 countries, mostly small and impoverished nations in Africa and the Pacific.

By contrast, China has more than 170 diplomatic allies, including the United States, Japan, and all of Asia and Europe, except for the Vatican.

On Tuesday, a Taiwanese foreign ministry spokesman, Mr Henry Chen, said Taiwan is confident about maintaining ties with Paraguay, at least for now.

'President Ma's visit will help bolster bilateral relations, and we believe there will be no change in the ties in the short term', he said. -- AP