The US encourages Guyana and Taiwan to advance their partnership and more countries to expand “unofficial ties” with Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday.
The statement came after Guyana reneged on an agreement made with Taiwan on Jan. 11 to establish a Taiwan office in the South American country, citing its adherence to the “one China” policy and “miscommunication” over the signed agreement.
The AIT had applauded the agreement, but was silent after the deal’s termination, until yesterday.
“The United States encourages Guyana and Taiwan to continue building on their strong partnership. Our support for Taiwan is rock solid,” AIT spokeswoman Amanda Mansour said in the statement.
“Taiwan is a friend that benefits the world through partnerships that advance security, democratic values and prosperity based on mutual respect and transparency. We encourage more countries to deepen unofficial ties with Taiwan,” she said.
“Taiwan is a leading democracy, a vibrant economic partner, a technology powerhouse and a shining example of how an open society can effectively contain COVID-19. The United States looks forward to working closely with Taiwan in the region to strengthen democracy and economic growth,” she said.
The US embassy in Guyana has not commented since it applauded the agreement to have a Taiwan office in Guyana.
Before terminating the deal, the Guyanese government issued a statement saying that China had earmarked 20,000 vaccines for Guyana, along with a photograph showing Guyanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Todd meeting with Chinese Charge d’Affaires to Guyana Chen Xilai (陳錫來).
“China has made significant contributions to Guyana’s development since the establishment of diplomatic relations on June 27, 1972. This is evident from several programs, including the attachment of Chinese doctors to the nation’s hospitals as well as the implementation of a number of major infrastructural projects,” the statement read.
“This donation [of vaccines] is another tangible demonstration of the importance of the bilateral relationship between Guyana and China,” it read.
After the deal was terminated, Todd told The Associated Press on Friday that the government had initially not seen anything wrong in allowing Taiwan to set up an office to push trade and investment in Guyana, which has in the past 14 months become one of the world’s newest nations to export oil.
“For us this was just a market opportunity for the two private sectors to conduct business, but there are some geopolitics involved here,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Additional reporting by AP
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS