Taiwan thanks St. Vincent and the Grenadines PM for visiting despite China’s military drills

President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen has thanked St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves for paying an official visit to the Asian country amid heightened tension across the Taiwan Strait.

On Monday, Gonsalves and Tsai attended meetings to discuss issues of mutual interest and witnessed the signing of a bilateral judicial cooperation agreement and a letter of intent for collaboration in higher education to further deepen bilateral judicial and educational cooperation, the Presidential Office said.

Gonsalves arrived in Taiwan on Sunday on what was expected to have been the final day of Chinese military live-fire drills near Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province.

However, since then, Beijing has announced a fresh set of drills, which experts say give an indication of what an attempt by China to take over Taiwan could look like.

China, which claims the self-ruled Taiwan as a part of its territory, is conducting the military drills in response to the visit to Taipei last week by Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, as part of a tour of Asia.

Tsai said she was deeply touched by Gonsalves’ visit, his tenth as prime minister and the first since being re-elected to a fifth consecutive term in November 2020, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Speaking shortly after arriving in Taiwan on Sunday, Gonsalves called on China to stop the military exercises, adding that China and Taiwan are “different legitimate political expressions of Chinese civilization,” and that he expects that these differences can be resolved peacefully over time.

Before departing Kingstown, he said he would write to China asking it to cease its military aggression toward Taiwan. However, it is not clear if the prime minister dispatched any such communication.

Tsai, who visited the Caribbean country in 2019, described Gonsalves as a “close and dear friend of Taiwan”.

She noted that Gonsalves, prior to his arrival had said the military drills would not prevent him from visiting his friends in Taiwan.

Tsai spoke following a military parade in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei to welcome Gonsalves and his delegation.

“We do not like it and do not support any powerful neighbor seeking to intimidate us or bully us…wherever there are differences, we must settle them peacefully in a civilized manner,” he said regarding the Chinese drills.

Gonsalves said the visit was meant to express his island’s solidarity with Taiwan and to work further to strengthen bilateral relations and secure peace, security, and prosperity for all.

He also thanked Taiwan for assisting the island after the April 2021 volcanic eruption and in combating the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is one of 14 countries, including four other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, which recognize Taiwan as a state separate from China.

CMC/