The APNU+AFC coalition today hammered the government for the fiasco over a Taiwan office here and expressed concern that relations with China had been damaged.
A statement from APNU+AFC follows:
APNU+AFC Coalition statement on PPP’s bungling of Guyana’s foreign policy
The APNU+AFC Coalition has taken note of reports that the PPP regime has withdrawn permission for the setting up of a Taiwanese trade office in Guyana.
Less than 24 hours prior, news broke from the United States Embassy in Guyana that the PPP had granted permission for the setting up of the trade office, a de factoTaiwanese embassy, and that such facility was already operational. This was confirmed by both Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Elizabeth Harper.
Now, less than 24 hours later, after the ineptitude, danger and recklessness of such a decision has been exposed, the bungling PPP regime has been forced to withdraw the permission. The damage however has been done. Decades old strong relations between Guyana and China have become strained in under 6 months of the PPP regime’s installation in office.
The PPP has clearly, by its actions, departed from Guyana’s unwavering adherence to the One China Policy and demonstrated that it is willing to alienate and ostracize Guyana in the community of nations and from our longstanding friends and allies.
The decision by the PPP regime to grant permission to open the de facto Taiwanese embassy and having to rescind such permission after pressure from all quarters locally and internationally, underscores the PPP’s unlearned, irresponsible and perilous approach to Guyana’s foreign policy.
It will now take years and considerable diplomatic and other scarce resources to repair and rebuild trust with the Chinese after this gigantic diplomatic blunder by the inept PPP regime.
The APNU+AFC Coalition asserts that Guyana’s foreign policy must continue to be founded on the basis of mutual respect and understanding, non-interference, multilateralism and strong relations with all states and calls on the PPP to immediately abandon its ill-advised isolationist foreign policy.
The APNU+AFC Coalition reaffirms its commitment to the One China Policy and the strong, decades-old relations with the people and government of China. On behalf of the right-thinking people of Guyana, the APNU+AFC Coalition expresses regret to the People’s Republic of China for this irrational and impetuous act by the PPP regime.
The APNU+AFC Coalition looks forward, at the earliest opportunity, to engaging with our Chinese friends in restoring and strengthening our bilateral relations and working together for the mutual benefit of our peoples.
