Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou is in Guatemala tonight after leaving Belize
at noon today. His trip culminated last night at the House of Culture in Belize
City when Prime Minister Dean Barrow conferred him with the Order of Belize,
which is the second highest national honour and the highest that can be given
to a foreign national. In that regard, it is reserved for visiting heads of
state. President Ma then bestowed Prime Minister Dean Barrow with the Taiwanese
Order of Propitious Clouds.
In the working part of his visit, he signed one agreement covering a number
of projects most notably the construction and development of a six-hundred thousand
dollar Information and Communication Technology Center.
But probably the most notable aspect of his trip is the declaration that under
his tenure, the dollar diplomacy practiced by past Taiwanese leaders is over
and he is advocating a new flexible diplomacy in which his country and mainland
China will no longer vie against each other for allies. Former Foreign Minister
Godfrey Smith recently wrote in his flashpoint column that, “since
the establishment of diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1989, Belize has received
at least $500 million Belize dollars in grant aid from Taiwan, not including
about $400 million Belize dollars in soft loans.”
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