Tweet

An open invitation has been extended today to the general public of St. Kitts and Nevis to visit the Embassy of the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC). A public Book of Condolence has been launched at the Embassy located at Taylors Range, Basseterre, to mark the passing of the 4th President of the ROC, His Excellency Lee Teng-hui, who died last Thursday at the age of 97 years.Resident Ambassador of the ROC, His Excellency Tom Lee, has announced that his Embassy will keep the Book of Condolence open for one week to collect as many signatures and expressions of solidarity as possible from the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.President Lee Teng-hui is regarded as an icon of the Far Eastern island nation of 23 million people.He is the 1st President of the ROC to be born on Taiwan, and the 1st President to be elected, (and re-elected), by direct democratic elections in universal adult suffrage.He has been called the Father of Democracy in Taiwan.His presidency lasted 12 years from 1988 to 2000 and straddled the Administrations of Dr. the Rt. Excellent Sir Kennedy Simmonds and Dr. the Rt. Hon. Denzil Douglas.Governor-General His Excellency Sir S. W. Tapley Seaton, GCMG, CVO, QC, JP, LL.D, was the first person to sign the Book of Condolence this morning.The Book of Condolence will remain open for a period of seven days until Thursday 14th August, 2020, starting from today, to facilitate multiple signatories between the hours of 10 o’clock in the morning and 4 o’clock in the afternoon, except Saturday and Sunday, when the Embassy will be closed.Hundreds of Kittitians and Nevisians have been afforded the opportunity at no cost on scholarships awarded by the ROC to travel to, to study in, and even to settle in, the island of Taiwan on the other side of the globe.Many of these scholarships and travel opportunities were awarded to Kittitians and Nevisians during the presidency of His Excellency Lee Teng-hui.The Book of Condolence is a medium for those Kittitians and Nevisians and/or their families, as well as all other Kittitians and Nevisians, to express solidarity with the Government and people of the ROC as they mourn the loss of, and pay homage to, a departed hero.