Government and LOO Disagree on Celebrating Ties with Taiwan

Government and LOO Disagree on Celebrating Ties with Taiwan

Taiwan has been Belize’s diplomatic ally since October eleventh, 1989, and Belize has benefited from Taiwan’s friendship under both UDP and PUP administrations. Today, Prime Minister John Briceno presented a motion to celebrate our two countries’ thirty-fifth anniversary of those ties, a motion that got overwhelming support from the government representatives and from the Collet and Albert area representatives, Patrick Faber and Tracy Taegar-Panton. Representatives referred to Taiwan’s significant support for women empowerment projects to improve the lives of Belizean women. With Taiwan’s Ambassador, Lily Li-Wen Hsu in attendance as a guest at the House Meeting today, the Leader of the Opposition, Moses “Shyne” Barrow did not support the motion. We share tidbits on Taegar-Panton and Faber’s support of the motion, followed by PM Briceno expressing his disappointment that the Leader of the Opposition did not endorse the motion. During that portion of the presentation, Barrow blurted out that Taiwan had supported the PM’s sister’s non-government organization with funding in the past.