The relationship between Taiwan and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has grown steadily, especially over the past two years, the Caribbean country’s embassy in Taiwan said while marking the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
“These two island nations, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Republic of China, are bound by the principles of mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty, democracy and their people’s right to self-determination,” Andrea Bowman, the nation’s ambassador to Taiwan, said on Friday. “The integrity of this alliance has stood the tests and vicissitudes of time. We look forward to more than 40 more years of friendship, freedom, [and] prosperity,” she said.
“Friendship, Freedom, Prosperity” is the slogan that won a competition among Vincentians to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between their country and Taiwan, which were established on Aug. 15, 1981.
In a statement, the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines embassy in Taiwan said cooperation between the two countries in the areas of agriculture, health, education and technology has affected 110,000 Vincentians since formal diplomatic ties were founded.
Ten years later, Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund was established in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, bringing social changes and improvements to infrastructure to the country, the statement said.
Since 2004, approximately 220 Vincentian students have been given scholarships by Taiwan to acquire undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate degrees at Taiwanese universities, it said. Bilateral ties were further “concretized” after the country opened its embassy in Taipei on August 8, 2019.
“Taiwan has worked very generously with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines towards combating the pandemic caused by COVID-19, even while addressing its own challenges in this regard,” the embassy said.
Taiwan has also pledged US$300,000 toward the Caribbean country’s relief efforts following explosive eruptions of the La Soufriere volcano in April 2021, it said.
Taiwanese citizens and Vincentians in Taiwan have also together contributed more than NT$561,000 (US$20,145) to the volcano relief efforts.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has used its seat on the UN Security Council to advocate for Taiwan’s inclusion in UN decisionmaking bodies, including the World Health Assembly, over the past two years, the embassy said.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines formalized ties with Taiwan less than two years after it gained independence from the UK on Oct. 27, 1979.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS