Taiwan on Friday signed a cooperation agreement with the Pan American Development Foundation to enhance sustainable tourism and education in three of Taiwan’s allies in the Caribbean, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
The agreement was signed at a ceremony at the foundation’s headquarters in Washington by Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) and Pan American Development Foundation executive director Katie Taylor.
The deal launched the “EcoYouth Ventures: Enhancing Sustainable Tourism in the Caribbean through Youth Empowerment and STEM Education” program for empowering young people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, and sustainable tourism training in Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The program is to run for two years and is expected to benefit about 1,500 local students, the ministry said.
Yui told the ceremony that education is the foundation of national development and tourism is the economic pillar of the three countries, so Taiwan hopes to help boost their STEM education to facilitate sustainable tourism development and boost their economies, the ministry said.
Taylor thanked Taiwan for its partnership with the foundation and support for Latin America and the Caribbean, which has improved the well-being of local residents, the ministry said.
She also expressed hope that the program would improve education and employment for young people in the three nations and in turn enhance sustainable tourism, it said.
The foundation is a nonprofit organization established by the Organization of American States in 1962, the ministry said, adding that it works to improve the livelihood of populations across Latin America and the Caribbean, promote sustainable livelihoods, and advance rights and justice.
Taiwan and the foundation have worked since 2012 on a variety of projects in the region, including disaster preparedness and reconstruction, infrastructure development, capability building and women’s empowerment, the ministry said.
Separately, the ministry yesterday rejected Beijing’s “one China” narrative made in comments directed at the Guatemalan government.
“Recognizing the one China principle, developing relations with China and sharing opportunities for development are what truly serve the fundamental interests of Guatemala and its people,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) told a news conference in Beijing on Friday after he was asked about Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) in Taipei.
China’s foreign ministry continues to “play the same old tune” of urging Guatemala to “see the ultimate trend ... and make the right choice,” while repeatedly spreading the “one China principle” fallacy, aimed at damaging Taiwan’s relationship with its allies, which the MOFA severely condemns, it said.
“Our nation developed diplomatic relations with Guatemala in 1933, far earlier than the establishment of the People’s Republic of China” in 1949, it said, adding that the two countries’ solid mutual trust would not be shaken by any “distorted delusion.”
Taiwan’s diplomatic relationships with its allies are sovereignty actions based on mutual respect, and the principles of equality and reciprocity, which other countries have no right to interfere in, it said.
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