Former Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves says the current administration’s approach to Taiwan is inconsistent.
Gonsalves said the current administration (NDP) campaigned on a platform of breaking relations with Taiwan in favor of mainland China.
“Despite this long-standing bad talk against Taiwan, the Minister of National Security is making a state visit there as the government is finding itself in a bit of a jam”.
Gonsalves criticised the administration for sending a high-level official to Taiwan specifically to ask for 12 vehicles. and argued that such requests are historically handled through the local Taiwanese ambassador and do not require an overseas visit.
Gonsalves said the administration’s sudden pivot to “begging” for vehicles is embarrassing given their nine-year history of opposing Taiwan.
He notes that it is unheard of in Caribbean history for a capital to announce a visit specifically to secure such a small number of vehicles.
Gonsalves said there is also a question of whether any assistance received for these vehicles would be “new money” or simply drawn from the $10 million annual grant that was previously negotiated by the former administration.
He suggests that this approach lacks a clear foreign policy framework, characterising it as reaching a point where the country is “going to beg for 12 [vehicles]” from a nation they spent years trying to distance themselves from.