The decision to establish a Taiwan office in Guyana was made at the level of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and not the Cabinet, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed in an interview with an international correspondent from the Vice News Agency, which operates in the US and Canada.

In a surprising and controversial move in February 2021, the United States embassy in Guyana announced that Guyana has agreed to establish a Taiwan office in Guyana, a move which deviated from the decades-old “One China Policy”.

The agreement with Taiwan was quickly revoked by the Government of Guyana.

The announcement did not sit well with the Chinese government and the announcement triggered direct calls between Beijing and Georgetown with the Chinese Government threatening to withdraw from several agreements and support systems. 

Questioned about the Foreign Policy blunder by Vice News, Mr. Jagdeo said the decision was never a government one, but rather it was one that was done by the Foreign Ministry.

“This originated from the Ministry, it didn’t go to the cabinet. But the entire world supports the One China policy, what is different about Guyana? Imagine in the United States of America that at a junior level, the State Department without clearing with the White House decides to change the One China Policy, Imagine if that were to happen and then you find out about that from the Newspapers,”  Jagdeo stated.

The issue was an embarrassing one for Guyana and there were no reports of anyone being reprimanded or replaced at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

“At the level of the Foreign Ministry this was decided and not the level of the Cabinet, there is a President, an Executive President and he has a Cabinet and the Cabinet is responsible for policy and so we subscribe to the One China policy, tell me how many countries in the world do not subscribe to that so why is it different in Guyana” Jagdeo questioned.

He said the Foreign Ministry was not authorized to change the policy.

The Vice President shied away from saying whether he knew of the plan to establish the Taiwan office in Guyana.

However, he stated that it was made clear by the Government of Guyana that Taiwan can conduct business in Guyana but the Government is not prepared to give Diplomatic status to the country that China sees as a getaway province.

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