By Belize Live News Staff: The cancellation of Godfrey Smith’s US visa has put a spotlight on Belize’s delicate position between Taiwan, China and the United States.
Belize has maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan since 1989 and does not formally recognize the People’s Republic of China. It is one of only a few CARICOM member states that recognize Taiwan, alongside St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia.
That relationship has come under pressure this year. In October, China sanctioned Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca over Belize’s Taiwan ties, freezing any assets he may have in China and barring him from Hong Kong and Macau. Belize rejected the move, and Prime Minister John Briceño called the sanctions wrong and illegal. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister also visited Belize in October and signed agreements, including plans for a Taiwan Caribbean Academy at the University of Belize.
Against that backdrop, Smith, who chairs the UB board, says he travelled to China in January and later met Chinese Embassy officials in Jamaica, since China has no embassy in Belize. Together, they formalized a programme sending young Belizean leaders on study tours to China.
Smith believes that work led Washington to revoke his visa, pointing to the Trump administration’s stated goal of reducing China’s influence in Latin America. He acknowledged there is some truth to being called “China’s man in Belize,” noting no Belizean official is engaged in similar talks with Beijing.
Foreign Minister Fonseca said he was caught off guard. “It is very shocking, very shocking news,” he said.
Smith remains one of the Caribbean’s most prominent legal figures. He served as Belize’s Foreign Minister and Attorney General under the PUP and now chairs Guyana’s inquiry into the MV Barima, which capsized on July 18, killing more than 100 people. Public hearings in that inquiry resumed this week.
Guyana, which follows a One China policy while keeping close security and energy ties with the US, has kept him in the role.
