Gobierno de Santa Lucía anuncia que abrirá una embajada en Taiwán
St Lucia announces plans to open embassy in Taiwan
Lucia’s Foreign Minister Alva Baptiste is visiting Taiwan to lay the groundwork for establishing an embassy in order to strengthen bilateral ties.
“This time, I came with the specific intention of establishing an embassy in Taiwan so that we can continue to cooperate in many different areas,” said Baptiste.
Establishing an embassy is “a tangible way of showing our appreciation, and our affection of the Taiwanese people and our respect,” he told reporters.
Baptiste said he has looked at a few possible locations for the embassy including a major building in the city, but he declined to divulge any specifics for the time being.
“Taiwan is a good model for development from which St. Lucia can learn,” said Baptiste.
“St. Lucia admires the progress Taiwan has made in education, health care and technology,” he said, adding that his government believes that the Taiwan experience can be applicable to the Caribbean country as well.
“So I believe it is a very good starting point in Asia,” he said. “Taiwan presents the ideal scenario for us.”
He also lauded the bilateral ties, noting that Taiwan has been assisting St. Lucia in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure, education, health care and technology.
So far, St. Lucia only has missions in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Of Taiwan’s 22 diplomatic allies, St. Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are the only two countries that have not set up embassies in the country.
St. Lucia first established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1984, but switched its recognition to the People’s Republic of China in 1997. It switched again with a change of Government in 2006.
