Taiwan’s ambassador to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has congratulated the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) for winning the election in the Caribbean country, a formal diplomatic ally of Taiwan.
The NDP has previously proposed severing relations with Taiwan, which Saint Vincent has held since 1981, in favor of greater proximity with China.
However, its election manifesto made no mention of ending ties with Taipei.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Only 12 countries have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, four of which are in the Caribbean.
Outgoing Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party have long opposed ending relations with Taiwan.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that Ambassador to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Fiona Fan (范惠君) had “at the first moment” expressed Taiwan’s congratulations to Godwin, who is to become prime minister, and his party.
“Taiwan and Saint Vincent share universal values such as democracy, freedom and human rights,” the ministry said.
Over the past 44 years of diplomatic relations, cooperation has yielded “remarkable” results across agriculture, food security, infrastructure, healthcare and other areas, earning widespread recognition from all sectors in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it said.
Elections in diplomatic allies are often nervous moments for Taiwan given the chance a new government could switch allegiances to China.
In 2023, a year after taking office, Honduran President Xiomara Castro severed relations with Taiwan in favor of China.
The most recent country to shift from Taiwan to China was the Pacific islands nation of Nauru last year, shortly after President William Lai’s (賴清德) win at the polls.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS