St Vincent and the Grenadines said it is “pained and anguished” at the upsurge in tension between Taiwan and China.
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which holds in high regard the magnificent Chinese civilisation and its national institutional expressions in [China] and [Taiwan], urges mature diplomacy and constructive engagement as the pathways for peace, security, and prosperity for all across the Taiwan Strait and beyond,” the government said in a statement.
“Coercive measures, threats, and bullying in quest of imperialism or hegemony have no place in modern, civilised relations between nation-states or territories. Such imperial or hegemonic behaviour is abhorrent and contrary to the precepts of the Charter of the United Nations; it is to be condemned whether or not it occurs in Asia, Our America (Latin America and the Caribbean), Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Arctic, or the Antarctic.”
The Vincentian government called for dialogue between Beijing and Taipei.
“Threats to peace and security across the Taiwan Strait have the potential to throw the world’s peoples into a terrible maelstrom in every material particular and thus enhance the possibilities of a dreaded global nuclear Armageddon. Thus, our call for mature diplomacy and constructive engagement by all, especially the major players in this dangerous game of confrontation,” St Vincent, who is one of Taiwan’s last remaining diplomatic partners, said.
Relations between China and self-governing Taiwan, which the Chinese Government views as a renegade province, deteriorated recently after a meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
China has sent warships into the seas around Taiwan as part of military drills.
Taiwan and the US plan to hold similar drills later this year.
China is against the US and other nations recognising the independence of Taiwan.