Can Taiwan Hold On to its Caribbean Allies?
By
Robertson S. Henry, Brian Ellsworth
Small countries are bulwarks of Taipei’s influence abroad.
KINGSTOWN —When a 2009 fire devastated a hospital serving southern Saint Lucia, the eastern Caribbean nation’s government had little choice but to move patients to a nearby sports stadium. When years later, the authorities sought financing to complete the reconstruction of the St. Jude facility, a $20 million loan came from an increasingly isolated ally: Taiwan.Governed independently since 1949, when the Chinese Nationalist Party relocated amid the Chinese Civil War, Taiwan relies heavily on the Caribbean in its longstanding battle for diplomatic survival. A total of 13 countries...
Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.
