In order to garner greater support for friends in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Happy Home World Alliance International Taiwan (HHWAIT), and Global Parliamentary Peace Prosperity Unity Alliance (GPPPUA), jointly organised the “Taiwan Soft Power” celebration on January 14th, 2022.

The vision of “Taiwan Soft Power” is to reach out to people in need, make friends with others (with 5 actions/values of T.A.B.L.E.), and unite to promote peace, prosperity, and health- not just for ourselves but for all of humanity, especially in the post-pandemic era, a release states.

The day’s event turned out to be a great success. We ought to give credit to the Embassy of St Vincent and the Grenadines, for being an adviser to this celebration. We are honoured that we had Minister Counsellor Wilson present as the keynote speaker at this celebration on the topic, “A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed”. Participants at this celebration were greatly encouraged by the message that he delivered that day.

Minister Counsellor Wilson began his speech by expressing his gratitude to HHWAI, and connected that with “Taiwan Soft Power” in which he stated that “The Government and People of St Vincent and the Grenadines congratulate Happy Home World Alliance International Taiwan (HHWAIT) and its associate organisations for the work that they have been doing to promote peace, prosperity, and unity across the world.

“Today’s ceremony celebrates soft power and its importance in today’s global political climate and its significance in international relations. Soft power is deemed as a country’s ability to make friends and influence people – not through military might, but through its most attractive assets, notably culture, education, language and values,” the Minister Counsellor said.

“ One might ask, why is soft power important and why do we need to celebrate it? We need to celebrate soft power because it is paramount that we show others that meaningful relationships and friendships can be developed without the use of threats and bullying tactics. On August 15th, 2021, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Taiwan celebrated 40 years of unbroken diplomatic relations. The slogan for our celebration covered three important concepts: Friendship, Freedom and Prosperity, which I think are all facets that can be related to the strengths of soft power.”

He concluded the speech by saying, “…We must see the importance of soft power as our countries seek to form stronger bonds with each other in these uncertain times of our world’s history. Taiwan has shown us what it means to be a friend to all on an international level. Let us not forget the friends who support us and friends who stood by us in our times of need; these are friendships and bonds that should be cherished. Let us seek to continuously support each other in prosperity and adversity,” he added.

“ There are many forces whose main aim is to destroy the bonds of friendship but we must bind together to defend against the enemies. We must all strive to maintain meaningful relationships in all aspects of our lives. Let us not forget that ‘A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed’.”

Taiwan’s President Tsai and Vice President Lai, Minister of Health, Minister of Education, Minister of Labour, and Minister of Agriculture, 15 Legislators (including Legislator Chiu, Chih-Wei, Chair of Taiwan – Caribbean Sea Countries Parliamentary Friendship Association), Mayors and House Speakers from five major cities, and 16 MPs from other countries all sent their congratulatory messages to this celebration. These congratulatory messages jointly create momentum for enhancing the “Taiwan Soft Power” to promote Taiwan through promoting global peace, prosperity, and unity.

We were also honoured to have Chi-Wen Wang, Consul-General of Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassadors and Representatives from nine countries, and leaders from all walks of life in Taiwan attend this celebration in order to draw on the collective wisdom and absorb useful ideas to promote global peace, prosperity, and unity.

“Taiwan Soft Power” Celebration helped those who participated, either in person or through sending congratulatory videos and messages, to keep focussing on two very specific tasks on promoting global peace, prosperity, and unity after the celebration.

The first one is to organise the “We Are Family – International Forum on Trade, Cultural and Educational Exchanges”, and the second is to hold the “Our Voices Bring Power” International Conference Call. We look forward to having the Embassy of St Vincent and the Grenadines again kindly advise on these two projects to help promote global peace, prosperity, and unity.