Taiwan has no more than two dozen countries who recognize her worldwide, and many of those allies are concentrated in the developing countries of the Caribbean and Central America. A lot of that support is maintained through what's called "dollar diplomacy," and yesterday Belize got its share when Ambassador Charles Tsai gave the Prime Minister a US$375,000 check.
It's part of a Taiwanese project to enhance the foreign ministries of Central American countries. The programme lasts through to 2006 and this year, Belize has received US$750,000. As it was first proposed, that project was to have sponsored the construction of a new Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belmopan, but even as the assistance programme winds down, that project hasn't gotten off the ground.
