President You meets Speaker of the House of Representatives of Belize Valerie Woods and 2021 Open Parliament Forum participants

The 2021 Open Parliament Forum organized by the Legislative Yuan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and National Democratic Institute is to be held at the Sheraton Hotel from December 2 to 3. Thirty-seven participants, including members of parliament, professionals, and scholars from 21 countries will participate, including 15 members from six countries who will visit Taiwan in person. Among participants will be Valerie Woods, Speaker of the Belizean House of Representatives; Clarita Pech, Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly of Belize; Nadia Navarro Acevedo, Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Mexican Senate and Chairman of the Bicameral Congressional Channels Committee; Amb. Derek Mitchell, President of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Mr. Manpreet Anand, Regional Director for Asia-Pacific at the NDI.

Parliamentarians from the three Baltic states will also take part in the forum, including Matas Maldeikis, Chair of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan); Marius Matijošaitis, Deputy Chair of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan); Lithuanian parliamentarians Vytautas Gapšys, Dovil Šakalien, Lukas Savickas, and Rūta Miliūtė; Jānis Vucāns, Chair of the Latvian Parliamentary Group for Relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan); Ainars Latkovskis, Deputy Chair of the Latvian Parliamentary Group for Relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan); Latvian parliamentarian Madis Milling; Jüri Jaanson, Chair of the Friendship Group of the Estonian Parliament; and Estonian parliamentarian Madis Milling.

The delegation visited the Legislative Yuan, and was greeted by President You Si-kun, along with 52 members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), including DPP Party Whip Ko Chien-ming, Taiwan‘s People First Party Chairman Chiu Chen-yuan, and New Power Party members Chen Jiau-hua and Wang Wan-yu. The group posed for a photo outside the Legislative Yuan chamber. To welcome these guests from the democratic alliance, the legislators held the national flags of the visiting delegation to express a sincere and warm welcome. They shouted together for open parliament, democracy, and freedom as a way of memorializing the historic moment.

After the group photo, the foreign dignitaries entered the chamber to view an introductory video concerning the 10th Legislative Yuan. The legislature placed a Formosan black bear puppet in the seat of each of the foreign dignitaries as a way of wishing them a successful time in Taiwan. After Director of the Conference Department Kao Bai-hsian briefed the visitors about the lawmaking process and the rules of procedure followed by the legislature, President You extended a special welcome. He stated that although Taiwan is not a member of the Open Government Partnership, he thanked President Mitchell for his assistance and the support of many democratic countries to make the 2021 Open Parliament Forum a success.

Following this, President You met with Speaker Woods and Deputy Clerk Pech. As this year marks the 40th anniversary of Belize’s independence and the 32nd anniversary of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Belize, President You began by expressing congratulations and thanking the government of Belize for its continued support of Taiwan’s membership in international organizations through letters and speeches. Belizean Senate President Carolyn Trench-Sandiford and Speaker Woods wrote to President You in January asking for assistance promoting a Taiwan-Belize Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA). President You was delighted to share with Speaker Woods the good news that the ECA had been passed by the Legislative Yuan and that he looked forward to stronger economic cooperation and exchanges thanks to the agreement.

President You continued by telling how he had visited Belize in August 2002 as Premier and was honored to have met the father of the country, the Rt. Hon. George Cadle Price. He was, he said, impressed by the lively conversation and the unique charm of Belize as the happiest and most peaceful country in the Caribbean and one of the friendliest tourist destinations in the world.

President You said that when then-Prime Minister Said Musa led a delegation to Taiwan in 2002 while he himself was Premier, he brought Prime Minister Musa to Pingxi to see the sky lanterns. President You then thanked Speaker Woods for having successfully urged 80 percent of the members of the House of Representatives to join the Formosa Club. Speaker Woods then revealed that she had also been a member of that delegation, and had traveled to Taiwan with her husband, who was then Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In addition to speaking about various development issues and the close friendship between Taiwan and Belize, Speaker Woods expressed her support for Taiwan on behalf of the government and people of Belize, saying she looked forward to the deepening of the friendship between the two countries. She had, she said, also been impressed by women‘s participation in politics in Taiwan and will return to her country to promote women‘s rights.

At the end of the meeting, President You presented Speaker Woods with a Legislative Yuan gavel and organic tea from Taiwan, hoping that she would be impressed by the beauty of Taiwan and the warmth and friendliness of its people.