President Tsai vows to strengthen Taiwan-Belize relations

2019/07/04

President Tsai Ing-wen said July 2 that Taiwan and Belize are working hand in hand to deepen exchanges and friendship in the 30th year of bilateral ties.
 
 Taiwan and the Central American ally are true friends and partners in prosperity, Tsai said. This is reflected by greater cooperation in areas such as education and training, health care, and investment and trade, she added.
 
 Tsai made the remarks while meeting with Belize Governor-General Colville Young at the Presidential Office July 2 in Taipei City. The representative of Queen Elizabeth II is visiting Taiwan July 2-5 along with Minister of Legal Affairs Michael Peyrefitte and other officials from the Commonwealth nation.
 
 According to Tsai, the presence of Young and his delegation underscores the robust health of the Taiwan-Belize relationship as the countries prepare to celebrate three decades of official ties in October.
 
 Case in point, Tsai said, is the recent business cultivation trip to Belize by several groups of Taiwan travel and tourism operators, as well as the planned visit of a local seafood procurement group in September and the staging of the inaugural Taiwan trade fair in November.
 
 Tsai also took the opportunity to thank Young for the Belize proposal urging Taiwan’s invitation as an observer to the World Health Assembly and the warm hospitality during her state visit in August 2018.
 
 The WHA is the annual meeting of the governing body of the World Health Organization. Taiwan was excluded from the 72nd edition May 20-28 in Geneva at the request of Beijing citing the “one China policy.”
 
In response, Young said the two countries enjoy a permanent friendship and are like family. Taiwan has also helped Belize improve its environmental and sustainable development policymaking, he added.
 
 Tsai and Young also witnessed the signing of a bilateral agreement on combating corruption and promoting clean governance by Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang and Peyrefitte.
 
 The pact, which is in line with the U.N. Convention against Corruption signed by Belize in December 2016, will see the two countries coordinate in related fields while striving to realize U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 16 and Target 16.5.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)