In the recent parliamentary elections in Taiwan, the opposition party (KMT) won 81 of the 113 seats, the incumbent government won 27 and other parties 5. The election for president is on 22nd March 2008. It is evident that President Chen, the close friend of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, will be kicked out of office.

The new government in Taiwan will benefit from stronger socio-economic ties with China. The new Taiwanese government, by accepting closer ties with China, is accepting the one China policy. Thus there will be no need for Taiwan to maintain its dollar diplomacy with SVG to buy recognition at the United Nations.

The effect of this change in foreign policy is that monies promised by Taiwan to fund the cross country road and Argyle airport will no longer be available. This is an enormous blessing to the people of SVG, in that, the non construction of the cross country road will protect and preserve our high-quality drinking water. It was at risk of permanent damage if Taiwan funded the cross country road.

Funding for the Argyle airport has always been practically impossible, because the Argyle airport is not a financially viable project. It would have a negative impact on the SVG economy since it would cost more to maintain that it would ever earn in revenue. The maintenance cost would be very high owing to the massive amount of sea salt blasting. Taiwan was the only country named by the ULP regime for possible funding. Even Malaysia refused to put any money towards the Argyle airport. Now that there is a change of government in Taiwan, funding from Taiwan for the Argyle airport is not going to happen.

The SVG Green Party, from its inception on 10th January 2005, has supported the one China policy and will continue to do so in the future. SVG Green Party has strongly objected to the construction of the cross country road as it would damage the watersheds of our high-quality drinking water. It would also destroy the natural habitat of our national bird, the parrot, which has an internationally recognised threatened species listing.

Taiwan’s days in SVG are numbered and the ULP regime’s lifeline for money injections will come to an end. The incompetent ULP regime cannot manage the economy with Taiwan, so without Taiwan’s help the ULP regime will be even more inept. The ULP regime’s reliance upon handouts has embarrassed our country, destroyed the nation’s self-esteem and jeopardised our long-term sustainability. This begging bowl mentality illustrates the inherent substantial weakness of the Ralph Gonsalves’ regime.

An SVG Green Party government would cut ties with Taiwan and start bi-lateral trading with China for mutual benefit. History has shown that 25 years of Taiwan’s presence in SVG has been an utter waste of time. SVG Green Party would enhance the lives of SVG’s people with forward, positive trade relations. SVG can no longer afford to be known as the beggar with the bowl.