Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to Visit the Jewel

Tsai Ing-wen

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen arrives in Belize on Thursday afternoon on an official visit of the country.  The seventh president of the Republic of China is visiting the Jewel for the first time since taking office in May 2016.  While in Belize, the president will have a packed itinerary which commences with her arrival at the Philip Goldson International Airport at 2:30 p.m.  President Tsai Ing-wen will later be conferred the Order of Belize by Governor General Sir Colville Young.  On Friday, there will be a special joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate.  This morning we spoke with Chief Executive Officer Patrick Andrews of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He says that the mission of the visit is to bolster the existing friendship between both nations.

Patrick Andrews, C.E.O., Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“Deepening our relationship.  Basically, we have been a very important ally to Taiwan and we want to continue building on that relationship and deepening our relationship.”

Reporter

“Do we have anything specific that we have prepared for her?”

Patrick Andrews

Patrick Andrews

“Well we have a state visit with all the regalia that that brings.  She arrives tomorrow, so everything has been carefully planned by the protocol office and I want to take this opportunity to thank the team that we have that is gearing up and preparing for tomorrow’s visit and finalizing with her departure come Saturday.”

Isani Cayetano

“Can you speak briefly to the ceremonial sitting of parliament?”

Patrick Andrews

“It was something that we thought would be very appropriate to have a joint session on Friday.  So it will be a very short session, but it will have, again, all the pomp and circumstance that is deserved for this visit of the president.”