Belize and Taiwan Sign Joint Communiqué and Deal to Train Diplomats
BELIZE · POLITICS
Updated 1 time · Latest: 30 September 2026
Key Facts
- The country Belize, a Central American nation of about 419,000 people, is one of just 12 countries that recognise Taiwan.
- Why it matters China claims Taiwan as its own and has drawn away its allies, including Nicaragua in 2021 and Honduras in 2023.
- What happened On 29 September the two foreign ministers signed a joint communiqué and an agreement to train Belizean diplomats.
- Also agreed The University of Belize and a Taiwanese aid fund signed a letter of intent for a Taiwan-Caribbean Institute.
- The visit Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, met Belize’s governor-general and prime minister during his stay from 28 to 30 September.
- What it means for you Taiwan helps pay for Belizean infrastructure, farming and climate projects, and a US$100 million loan went to parliament in August.
- Still open The communiqué’s text has not been published, and no new aid, loans or business deals were announced.
Belize and Taiwan signed a joint communiqué, a formal statement by both governments, in Belmopan, the capital, on Tuesday 29 September. Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, and Belize’s foreign minister, Francis Fonseca, also signed an agreement on training Belizean diplomats.
Belize is one of only 12 countries that still recognise Taiwan, and diplomatic relations date from 1989. Neither government published the communiqué’s text on Tuesday, and no new aid or loans were announced.
What was signed in Belmopan
Francis Fonseca, Belize’s minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, received Lin at the foreign ministry in Belmopan. The two held talks on cooperation and reaffirmed their long partnership, Breaking Belize News and Love FM reported.
They then signed the joint communiqué and a Bilateral Agreement on Diplomatic Staff Training Cooperation. The second is meant to build up Belize’s foreign service, and Taiwan’s foreign ministry had said it also covers exchanges.
The ministers also saw the University of Belize and the TaiwanICDF, Taiwan’s development aid fund, sign a letter of intent. It sets out plans for a Taiwan-Caribbean Institute for academic cooperation between Belize, Taiwan and the wider Caribbean.
Fonseca spoke of “three instruments”, while Greater Belize Media counted the communiqué plus two cooperation agreements, the university deal among them. A letter of intent records a shared plan, and no budget, location or opening date for the institute was given.
“The joint communiqué strengthens our political relationship,” Fonseca said, according to Love FM. Lin said both countries “strongly uphold such universal values as democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law”.
Meetings with Belize’s leaders
On Tuesday Lin paid a courtesy call on Governor-General Dame Froyla Tzalam, who represents King Charles III, Belize’s head of state. He told her Taiwan “is a force for good” and works with Belize, Greater Belize Media reported.
Prime Minister John Briceño then received Lin, joined by senior Cabinet officials and foreign ministry staff. In remarks carried by Breaking Belize News, Briceño praised a “longstanding friendship built on mutual respect”.
On Monday Briceño had declined to preview the talks when a 7News reporter asked about them. “I don’t think that’s something I should discuss with the media until we finish discussing,” he said.
His support in public has been plain, however. At the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday 26 September, Briceño said “Taiwan is a friend of Belize”, Breaking Belize News reported.
He called once more for Taiwan’s “meaningful participation in the United Nations system”. Taiwan’s 23 million people “have no seat and no voice” in the General Assembly, he said, according to Love FM.
Business talks, but no deals announced
Lin travelled with more than 30 business representatives, who met Belizean firms on Tuesday at the Fort George Hotel in Belize City. Their fields ranged from renewable energy and artificial intelligence to farming, health care, tourism and finance, Greater Belize Media reported.
Ishmael Quiroz, head of BELTRAIDE, Belize’s trade and investment agency, called it “a meeting between Taiwanese capability and Belizean opportunity”. Marcello Blake, a board member of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, pointed to market access in both directions.
Blake also said Taiwanese investment could use Belize to reach “beyond our borders into the region”. Mike Ching Chung Hung, vice-chairman of the Taiwanese business group CIECA, said the meeting “should not be the end of the conversation”.
No signed contracts or investment amounts were reported from the event. The US-Taiwan Business Council, which promotes US trade with Taiwan, joined the delegation, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry.
Why Taiwan counts every friend
Taiwan’s foreign ministry lists 12 countries with full diplomatic ties, seven of them in Latin America and the Caribbean. They are Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The other five are the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Eswatini in southern Africa and the Holy See. For comparison, the United Nations has 193 member states, and nearly all of them recognise Beijing instead of Taipei.
Nicaragua dropped Taipei for Beijing on 9 December 2021, and Honduras followed in 2023 under then-president Xiomara Castro. Her successor, Nasry Asfura, is reviewing whether to restore ties with Taiwan, Taiwan News reported on 16 September.
China’s government regards Taiwan as part of China, a claim Taiwan’s government rejects. Meeting US President Donald Trump on 24 September, China’s Xi Jinping urged Washington to oppose Taiwan independence, according to Beijing’s account.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry replied on 25 September that Beijing uses every opening to try to influence other countries’ dealings with Taiwan. No response from Beijing to the agreements signed by Belize and Taiwan has been published.
What Taiwan brings to Belize
In August Belize’s parliament was asked to approve a US$100 million loan from Taiwan’s Export-Import Bank, Breaking Belize News reported. That equals BZ$200 million (US$100 million), because the Belize dollar is fixed at two to the US dollar.
The loan runs 20 years with three years’ grace, and the first US$40 million can be drawn by the end of 2026. Briceño described it as “general financing” for the government’s needs over five years, Greater Belize Media reported.
He said it would fund investments such as infrastructure, education and health rather than salaries. At the UN on Saturday he also credited Taiwan with help on climate resilience, farming and public works.
Taiwan-funded projects on Lin’s programme include a hospital being built in San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye, and a 50-home social housing scheme. Taiwan’s foreign ministry says it seeks mutual benefit and shared prosperity with allies such as Belize.
The opposition wants clearer terms
Briceño leads the governing centre-left People’s United Party (PUP), while the centre-right United Democratic Party (UDP) sits in opposition. Tracy Panton, the leader of the opposition, has pressed the government on the terms of Taiwanese lending.
In August she argued that parliament was being asked to approve a long-term commitment without a detailed plan of investments or outcomes. She asked what the first US$40 million would pay for, and whether it would cover day-to-day spending, Breaking Belize News reported.
She also asked how much of the loan would go to energy security, Greater Belize Media reported. Every Belizean household, she said, is struggling with the cost of electricity.
In September 2024 Shyne Barrow, then the UDP leader, abstained on a motion marking 35 years of relations with Taiwan. In October he said most of his party was grateful for Taiwan’s help to “both UDP and PUP governments”, Love FM reported.
Where Washington and Guatemala fit
The United States recognises Beijing, not Taipei, yet its envoy in Belize has praised the tie. André Bauer, the new US ambassador, told Greater Belize Media in early September that both countries had “prioritized the relationship with Taiwan”.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it would give details of Lin’s full itinerary at an appropriate time, Taiwan News reported. It has not confirmed whether his route passes through the United States.
After Belize, Lin flies to Guatemala, Taiwan’s other ally in Central America, to meet President Bernardo Arévalo. There he will mark 92 years of diplomatic ties and Taiwan’s National Day.
Belize and Guatemala are themselves at odds over a Guatemalan military flight that Belize says entered its airspace on 24 September. Guatemala denies it, as set out in Belize Airspace Row: Guatemala Denies Military Flight That Belize Tracked.
What comes next
Lin’s visit ends on Wednesday 30 September, and neither government has said when the signed texts will be published. Reports on Tuesday did not say whether he had yet toured the San Pedro hospital or the housing scheme.
His programme also listed the planned site of a Taiwan-Caribbean Prosperity Academy. Fonseca linked the university deal to a “Taiwan Caribbean Academy Cooperation Project”, but no site or cost for it was announced.
No new aid, loans or scholarships were announced with the agreements, and no business deals were reported. The cost of the Taiwan-funded projects on his programme was not given either.
The signing does not change Belize’s recognition of Taiwan, which Briceño reaffirmed at the UN on Saturday. Nor did it come with any announced new money, since the US$100 million loan went before parliament in August.
Since taking office in May 2024, Lin has taken business delegations to allies under what Taipei calls its Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project. For Belize, the open questions are what the partnership pays for and on what terms.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a joint communiqué?
It is a formal statement agreed and signed by two governments, usually setting out shared positions and plans. Fonseca called the one signed on 29 September “a renewed political commitment” by Belize and Taiwan, but its text has not been published.
Why does Belize recognise Taiwan and not China?
Belize and Taiwan have kept diplomatic ties since 1989, and Beijing does not keep diplomatic relations with governments that recognise Taipei. Briceño calls Taiwan a development partner of more than three decades.
How many countries still recognise Taiwan?
Twelve, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry: seven in Latin America and the Caribbean, three in the Pacific, Eswatini in Africa and the Holy See. Most of the world, including the United States, recognises Beijing instead.
Is Taiwan giving Belize new money during this visit?
No new amounts were announced with the agreements signed on 29 September. The largest recent sum is a US$100 million loan from Taiwan’s Export-Import Bank, put before Belize’s parliament in August.
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