SVG joins Taiwan 101st National Day celebrations

Over the past 31 years, St Vincent and the Grenadines has been a leading advocate for Taiwan.{{more}}

And according to the Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan H.E. Weber Shih, the people of that nation are grateful to all who made this possible.

The sentiments were expressed on Monday, at the Methodist Church Hall, on the occasion of a reception in celebration of the 101st National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Taiwan has emerged as a hub for high-tech industries and has developed Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) industries and has been able to claim a reasonable share in the global research and manufacturing of photovoltaic products, the Ambassador explained.

But it is an island nation like St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“And it has not been immune to the international financial tsunami,” Shih noted.

He commended the work of the leader of Taiwan, President Ma Ying-jeou, who has been recognized by the international community for his continued efforts at trade liberalization and facilitated participation in regional economic integration.

The Taiwanese government has started promoting a policy of viable democracy in 2008, which he said has managed to expand the country’s international space, consolidate relations with diplomatic allies and increase substantive new ties with many nations.

Ambassador Shih said that in the years since this country developed ties with Taiwan, the friendship has been bearing fruit in a number of cooperation projects.

“More importantly, the nature of our cooperation is transforming some traditional fields to knowledge-based projects such as ICT,” the ambassador said.

He pledged continued support and that he looked forward to working hand in hand with this country.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, in his remarks, said that there are a number of priority areas that have already been approved at Cabinet for this country’s manpower needs and covered the sciences and the humanities.

“We have reached a stage now when we must try not to discuss too many soft subjects,” Gonsalves said.

There are some similarities between the two countries, although there are some equally important differences as well.

One of those similarities, according to Gonsalves, is that Taiwan has had good leadership from 1949 onwards.

And in the same way, this country has been having good leadership, but he pointed out that the people needed to be more disciplined and needed to work harder.

“We have to work hard and we have to work smart,” the prime minister said.

“This is something critical in the Chinese civilization and this is something that we are getting at, but not in the same way,” he further explained.

Though there was some progress being made, he said that we needed to do more to emulate the people of Taiwan.

“I am very passionate about this relationship, because I believe I come to it with a particular understanding of what the issues are and to use political leadership to guide,” he said.

And that is why he is able to defend the relationship, he said. (DD)