Lai Qingde went to Palau in the South Pacific to be a "boy of scattering wealth", and Tsai Ing-wen sat in Taipei as a "diplomatic champion". Starting tomorrow, Terrance Drew, the prime minister of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean region, is invited to lead a delegation to visit Taiwan, and Tsai Ing-wen will have to "give gifts" to keep this "friend" amid speculation.
Taiwan's foreign affairs department said that this was Prime Minister Drew's first visit to Taiwan since taking office in August, and Tsai Ing-wen would "grandly welcome." Drew is scheduled to lead a delegation to Taiwan from November 7 to 10, including Foreign Minister Denzil Douglas, Nevis Chief Executive Mark Brantley, Environment Minister Joyelle Clarke, Deputy Minister of Youth, Gender Affairs and Social Development Isalean Phillip and other cabinet members and local governors.
During his stay in Taiwan, Drew will meet with Su Zhenchang and Wu Zhaoxie, as well as responsible persons of the Mainland Affairs Council and Taiwan's "Environmental Protection Department" and "Health Department." Judging from the people of the visit arranged by Drew, it is indispensable for the Tsai authorities to "invest (send money)" in medical care, education, tourism, climate response, etc.
As for why go to the MAC Council? This is most likely Tsai Ing-wen's "shoehorning" of the target, hoping to let Drew "criticize" Chinese mainland and use Drew's visit to increase "Taiwan's international visibility." This is the "diplomatic achievement" that Tsai Ing-wen threw money as a "kaizi" in exchange, that is, in exchange for a few empty words of "help" from "friendly countries".
On October 6 last year, then-St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris, at the request of the Tsai administration, called on the United Nations and the international community to "make every effort to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait" and called for Taiwan to be allowed to "participate" in the international community, while "condemning" the Continental Army aircraft patrolling Taiwan. Taiwan's foreign affairs department was grateful, and immediately "paid money to express its gratitude."
How much does Saint Kitts and Nevis weigh on the world stage? According to the data, St. Kitts and Nevis is an island country composed of St. Christopher Island (St. Kitts Island) and Nevis Island, which is a member of the British Commonwealth, and its capital is Basseterre. With a land area of 267 square kilometers and a population of 58,000, the GDP in 2021 was US$763 million, and the per capita GDP was US$13,234.
Why is such a small country so valued by the Tsai authorities? Because Taiwan has too few "diplomatic relations", losing any of them will be a heavy blow to Tsai Ing-wen. Therefore, there was a sound of breaking cans and breaking inside the green camp, saying that the mainland simply let Taiwan's "diplomatic relations" be cleared and should not "poach out" one by one, lest Taiwan suffer as if it were Ling Chi.
There are only 14 countries left with Taiwan "diplomatic relations", namely Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Eswatini, and the Vatican.
