The Embassy of Saint Kitts and Nevis in Taipei yesterday unveiled an “outreach program” to celebrate the 40th anniversary of independence and its establishment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The program would involve a series of activities, including donating books to libraries and schools in Taiwan, organizing English-language summer camps for Taiwanese high-school students and cooperating with organizations that serve vulnerable people, Saint Kitts and Nevis Ambassador Donya Francis told a news conference.
Through the program, the embassy hopes to “create and promote a greater familial bond between the people of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the people of Taiwan,” Francis said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
In keeping with the program’s theme of “sharing kindness and nurturing love,” the Saint Kitts and Nevis community in Taiwan hopes to continue its efforts to share the Caribbean nation’s rich culture and history, as well as its “warmth and friendliness” with the residents of their “home away from home,” Francis said, referring to Taiwan.
One such example is the unanimous passage of a resolution in April by the Saint Kitts and Nevis parliament supporting Taiwan’s bid to join international organizations, he said.
For 40 years, the governments and citizens of Taiwan and Saint Kitts and Nevis have shared their experience and collaborated in the areas of renewable energy, health, training, people empowerment, diplomacy, climate change, cultural exchanges and education, Francis said.
The countries have benefited from a “long-standing and unchanging relationship and cooperation” built on their shared values of freedom, democracy, peace and the rule of law, he said.
The embassy looks forward to another 40 years of friendship and cooperation with Taiwan, he added.
Cheng Li-cheng (鄭力城), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, thanked Saint Kitts and Nevis for taking “concrete action” by calling for Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Assembly.
Cheng thanked the administration of Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrence Drew for backing Taiwan’s professional, pragmatic and constructive participation in the international arena.
Taiwan and Saint Kitts and Nevis established diplomatic relations in 1983, the same year the latter gained independence from Britain.
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