Guyana has acquiesced to the establishment of a Taiwanese investment office here, a move certain to upset its 48-year ties with the People’s Republic of China which have been underpinned by adherence to the `One China Policy’.
Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd last night told Stabroek News that compartmentalization was key and there will be no bilateral diplomatic relations between Guyana and Taiwan as the ‘One China Policy’ has not been broken.
“More than half the countries in the world have investment relations with Taiwan and we are just the newest addition to that lot. China has a good relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean so I don’t see it [the decision] affecting anyone,” Todd told Stabroek News when contacted.
“I don’t see it as a conflict. We don’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. What we have are investments. There will be no interstate relations, “he added as he explained that it will be private sector relations and not business done with government.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin today said Beijing hoped Guyana would not engage in official ties with Taiwan, calling on the country to “earnestly take steps to correct their mistake”.
It was the United States which last evening announced the decision through a statement posted by its embassy here and which was shared by Deputy Secretary of State Julie Chung on her Twitter page.
“The United States applauds the agreement to establish a Taiwan Office in Guyana. Deepening ties between Guyana and Taiwan will advance their shared goals of prosperity and security. Closer ties with Taiwan will advance cooperation and development in Guyana on the basis of shared democratic values, transparency, and mutual respect,” the statement said.
Todd was asked why such an important announcement was first made public by the United States and not this country’s Foreign Ministry. He explained that the agreement for the establishment of the Taiwanese investment office here was made “only yesterday” and was simultaneous with works being taken to have the two vessels and twelve crewmen seized by Venezuela in this country’s waters, released soonest.
“We don’t control the US’ actions. We will put out a statement when the time is right. This thing only happened yesterday and you know we were working around the clock to have the two vessels with the crews return home. That [the return of the crews] was the priority,” he explained.
He said that the public should not be worried as “a statement will be issued soon”.
Repercussions
But career diplomats last night posited that the current government seems not to have fully grasped the magnitude of the decision and the repercussions it could have on relations between Georgetown and Beijing.
“Can they sell that reasoning to China? I think not. How do you stop the Taiwanese, when a foot is in the door here from not upping the pressure to be recognised. This is just a foot in because they will use the very investments to have their diplomatic positions heard. Diplomacy is different and you have to understand it because what we may think is a small decision and insignificant can be seen as shunning by another party,” one veteran diplomat told this newspaper.
“We were the first in the English-speaking Carib-bean to recognize ‘One China’ on June 26th 1972. The Chinese have always commended us for not isolating them from this part of the hemisphere. Suddenly, the government decides to throw Taiwan into the mix. I do not think the Chinese will be happy,” another diplomat posited.
But Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister assures that this country has not moved away from the ‘One China’ position as he emphasized that relations with the People’s Republic of China will not change because of the office opening here. “Our position remains unchanged,” Todd said.
China considers Taiwan a renegade province and frowns severely on any cultivation of diplomatic ties between it and third countries. In recent years, Beijing has taken an increasingly harder line on countries engaging with Taiwan which is also known as the Republic of China. Tensions have risen sharply in recent weeks between China and Taiwan and there have been large reported incursions into Taiwan’s airspace by Chinese aircraft.
Diplomatic watchers say the swift announcement of the office by the United States underlines Washing-ton’s stepped up role to roll back Chinese influence in this part of the world. Since entering office the PPP/C government has taken a decidedly pro-US line which has seen it agree to support Washington’s candidate for the Presidency of the Inter-American Development (IDB), another move seen as aimed at limiting China’s reach into the region.
Georgetown was favoured by the first ever visit of a US Secretary of State when Mike Pompeo visited in September last year. It has also seen a flurry of high-level diplomatic, military and investment interest from Washington. It dusted off a shiprider agreement with Washing-ton and last month hosted the Head of the US Southern Command, Admiral Craig Faller.
In October last year, it hosted the Head of America’s development bank, Adam Boehler on an investment mission.
Diplomatic observers say Taiwan doesn’t invest in countries unless there is a modicum of diplomatic recognition. For years Taiwan has flirted with gaining a toehold in Guyana but PNC governments in particular had frowned on this given the established `One China Policy’.
