President Tsai issues remarks after visit to Guatemala and Belize
On the evening of April 7, President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taiwan after the conclusion of her trip to Guatemala and Belize, and delivered remarks on her visit at Taoyuan International Airport. President Tsai thanked all involved in the trip for working together to help the international community see that pressure and threats only make Taiwan more united, and emphasized that Taiwan will neither yield to pressure nor let obstacles stop us from engaging with the world.
A translation of President Tsai’s remarks follows:
During this 10-day trip, we visited our allies Guatemala and Belize, and made transit stops in New York City and Los Angeles. I want to thank all the members of the delegation and our colleagues involved in the trip, as well as our friends in the media and our China Airlines flight crew. Together, we successfully completed the trip's objectives.
I also want to thank our compatriots working abroad, as well as our diplomats stationed across the world. It was thanks to their efforts that we could accomplish all we did. I also want to thank our administration and national security team in Taiwan for ensuring the smooth execution of our agenda and for taking care of our homeland so that we could rest assured and concentrate on diplomacy.
Regarding this trip, I have three important points I want to report to my fellow citizens.
First, despite more than three years of the pandemic, our cooperation projects with our allies continue to achieve results. For example, the construction of Guatemala's National Hospital of Chimaltenango was completed, and the facility is now in operation. In addition, our sheep and goat breeding and production enhancement project with Belize has helped improve the lives of even more disadvantaged families.
In the future, Taiwan will continue contributing our expertise to become an important global force for good, and we will actively cooperate with other international partners to strive for even greater achievements.
Second, during this trip, President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala and Governor-General Froyla Tzalam and Prime Minister John Briceño of Belize all publicly expressed strong support for Taiwan.
And during our transit stops in the US, a number of US senators and representatives from across party lines took concrete actions to express their own support for Taiwan. Taiwan's determination to safeguard democracy and freedom has gained support from and strengthened our friendships with our democratic partners.
Third, whenever I arrived at a new stop, our overseas community members in the area always gave our delegation the warmest of welcomes. And as we bravely and confidently made our voice heard around the world, our fellow citizens in Taiwan followed our delegation's visits to our allies and our transit stops in the US, serving as our warmest supporters as they actively helped spread and share our message.
I want to say thank you to all of my fellow citizens both at home and abroad. Thank you for your unity and cooperation. We let the international community see that pressure and threats only make Taiwan more unified, and that we will neither yield to pressure nor let any obstacles stop us from engaging with the world.
In closing, I want to thank everyone once again for your hard work. The future holds many challenges, and after a good night's rest, we will continue to work together in support of Taiwan's foreign relations and Taiwan's future.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman, in her capacity as dean of the diplomatic corps, and Guatemala Ambassador Oscar Adolfo Padilla Lam were present at the airport to welcome the president upon her return.