New Taiwanese Ambassador presents credentials

The new ambassador from the Republic of China on Taiwan, Kuo-Hsiung Shen, today presented his credentials to Governor General Sir Colville Young in Belmopan. The Governor General is no stranger to Taiwan, having visited that island nation several years ago as a guest of the Taiwanese government. Shen also paid courtesy calls on Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel, Foreign Secretary David Gibson and Yvonne Hyde, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Development. Taiwan provides more financial assistance to Belize than any other single country. It is pursuing an aggressive strategy of winning friends throughout the region as a way to counter the influence of the Communist People’s Republic of China. Both Chinas claim to be the legitimate representative of the world’s largest nation. During its first term in office the UDP government had established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic, only to see those ties broken by the mainland when the PUP recognized Taiwan in 1989. Upon returning to Belmopan in 1993 the Esquivel administration not only maintained the already cordial Taiwanese relationship but expanded it dramatically.