Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is to establish its embassy in Taipei’s Tianmu (天母) area when Saint Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves leads a delegation to Taiwan next month, meaning all of Taiwan’s 17 diplomatic allies would have established embassies by then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Diplomatic ties were established between the two nations in 1981 and the Republic of China set up its embassy in Kingstown, the capital of the Caribbean country, in 1983.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday and Wednesday visited Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as part of her “Journey of Freedom, Democracy and Sustainability” tour of four Caribbean allies.
Photo: CNA
When she arrived at Argyle International Airport on Tuesday, Tsai was received by Gonsalves and Acting Saint Vincentian Governor-General Susan Dougan, the Presidential Office said.
The two nations signed bilateral agreements on fiscal cooperation and combating transnational crime, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Saint Vincentian Minister of Foreign Affairs Louis Straker serving as the representative signatories, it said.
“We have waited a long time to set up an embassy in Taiwan. We have waited too long, as a matter of fact,” Straker said in an interview with Saint Vincentian media outlet Searchlight on Friday last week.
The Saint Vincentian Cabinet has approved the appointment of Andrea Bowman as its first ambassador to Taiwan, and she is to accompany Gonsalves on his visit next month, Searchlight quoted Straker as saying.
The embassy is to be established at the Diplomatic Quarter, where some of the nation’s other allies have their embassies, ministry Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Deputy Director-General Vivia Chang (張俊菲) told a routine news conference in Taipei yesterday, adding that there would be an opening ceremony.
Of Taiwan’s 17 diplomatic allies, only Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has not yet established its embassy, she said.
The Saint Vincentian House of Assembly has approved funds for the embassy’s establishment and the ministry would provide any assistance needed, she added.
To help maintain social order in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Taiwan is to help with the purchase eight police vehicles as part of the two nations’ long-term cooperation in police affairs, Chang said.
In related news, Tsai on Wednesday — the first day of her state visit to Saint Lucia — attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of St Jude Hospital and visited a banana packaging center.
On the final leg of her diplomatic tour, Tsai said that under the leadership of Saint Lucian Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, the Caribbean country has been moving ahead with many important cooperation projects with Taiwan.
The hospital’s reconstruction would improve access to healthcare for people in the country’s south, and help Saint Lucia achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which promote the health and welfare of people of all ages, she said at the ceremony.
“I am confident that when the reconstruction of the hospital is complete, Saint Lucia’s overall healthcare system will be strengthened,” Tsai said.
The hospital, which was destroyed in 2009 by a fire that killed three patients, is being rebuilt with financial assistance from Taiwan, Saint Lucian media reported.
Additional reporting by CNA
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