Belize–Taiwan relations
Bilateral relations between Belize and Republic of China (Taiwan) have been maintained since 1989. Belize has adhered to the One China policy where it is one of the few countries that recognizes the ROC government as the sole legitimate government of "China" instead of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland. History Belize gained independence in 1981. William Quinto, a Belizean businessman of Chinese descent and a supporter of Belize's People's United Party, began lobbying then-Prime Minister George Price via his mutual acquaintance Said Musa for Belize to establish relations with Taiwan in the 1980s. Then-Taiwanese ambassador to Guatemala Gene Loh came to Belize in May 1984 and met with Quinto and Price to discuss the possibility of establishing relations, but Guatemalan leader Rodolfo Lobos Zamora objected, and after Manuel Esquivel of the Belizean opposition United Democratic Party took power in the election late that year, the plans were put aside. In the coming years, Quinto would put up the funds for Musa (by then Minister of Education), Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Courtney, and Vice Minister Robert Leslie to go to Japan and Hong Kong in order to meet with Loh again. It would not be until