Taiwan and St. Lucia formally resumed diplomatic relations as representatives from both countries signed a joint communique in the Caribbean country on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday.
St. Lucia is Taiwan's 25th diplomatic ally.
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) flew to St. Lucia on Sunday and signed the Joint Communique on the Reestablishment of Diplomatic Relations with St. Lucia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Rufus Bousquet on Monday, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆) at a news press conference in Taipei.
Both sides officially announced the resumption of diplomatic ties in the signing ceremony in Castries, the capital of St. Lucia. Taiwan established its embassy on the island on the same day in accordance with the joint communique, Yang said.
The establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries has been dogged by with controversy, not only from China but also within Taiwan.
Taiwan and St. Lucia first set up diplomatic relations in 1984 when John Compton served as prime minister. However, St. Lucia severed ties with Taipei in 1997 when then prime minister Kenny Anthony switched recognition to Beijing. Compton came back to power last December.
On April 25, Bousquet announced in Congress that St. Lucia intended to set up ties with Taiwan.
In Taipei, Premier Su Tseng-chang (
The restoration of diplomatic ties between St. Lucia and Taiwan has the full support of Compton and his Cabinet, Yang said.
Huang, who is in St. Lucia, called in during a news conference, saying that it was a remarkable achievement for Taiwan to be able to win a new friend despite the tremendous pressure from China.
"It shows that the image of `Taiwan' is highly valued in internationally," Huang said.
Huang said his joy was tempered by the fact that despite having made a new ally, Taiwan still faces a tough diplomatic future because of China's expanding global influence.
Huang said Taiwan had never asked St. Lucia to severe diplomatic relations with China during the negotiations for the resumption of ties.
"Taiwan has no intention of playing a `zero-sum game' with China. We hope St. Lucia, Taiwan and China can all be winners in the diplomatic arena," he said.
Asked whether Taiwan would offer St. Lucia economic aid, Huang said that Taiwan would offer the same cooperation pact it has with other diplomatic allies, including agricultural development, information technology, handicrafts, medicine and education.
"Taiwan can never compete with China when it comes to `checkbook diplomacy.' As far as I know, what China offered St. Lucia would stun anyone. Taiwan would never do that," Huang said. "Taiwan wins friendship with its sincerity and reputation."
A senior foreign ministry official, who requested anonymity, said that Gary Lin (
Lin, a senior diplomat who worked for the ministry for more than 20 years, has served as the director-general of the Department of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, ambassador to the Marshall Islands and charge d'affaires to St. Lucia.
Lin was commissioned to St. Lucia soon after Compton won the election last December and took charge of the task of restoring diplomatic ties with St. Lucia.
While Lin was serving as the director-general of the Department of East Asia and Pacific affairs, Taiwan built diplomatic relations with Kiribati and Nuaru. He was also credited with facilitating President Chen Shui-bian's (
China, meanwhile, expressed "indignation and opposition" to the resumption of Taiwan-St. Lucia ties yesterday.
"The resumption of diplomatic relations between St Lucia and Taiwan is a flagrant violation of the declaration on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and St Lucia," China's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (
Additional reporting by AFP
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
RSS