The Prime Minister was far more forthcoming when the press asked him to give the bottom line on the visit by the Taiwanese Vice President.
Somewhat regrettably, because of more than a decade of dollar diplomacy, the public expectation was the some lavish grant or aid might have been given.
The PM explained: that is not the case:
Prime Minister Dean Barrow - Prime Minister of Belize
"This visit did not produce any - well, he never came to bring the big check. He never came to bring any check, but there is a re-commitment to the program which sees us get $10 million a year, the $50 million over 5 years grant/loan arrangement, which does help with budget support. And of course, they do a lot of things in education, scholarships, training, technical cooperation expertise. They have this rice seed project at Central Farm, and they're helping with papaya, various things. But if you're asking me directly whether we're contemplating any sort of a diplomatic shift to Mainland China, the answer certainly is no."
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