Taiwan Navy Band Performs in Belize During Training Ship Visit

Today, the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) hosted a special performance by their navy marching band as part of a goodwill visit tied to the 2026 Midshipmen Cruising and Training Squadron. The event featured music, discipline, and cultural displays, followed by a navy ship open house where students and officials toured vessels that took fifty days to arrive. Beyond the music and ceremony, the visit underscored the long‑standing ties between Belize and Taiwan. Francis Usher, CEO of the Ministry of National Defense and Border Security, spoke about the significance of the relationship and the role of Belizean cadets in this international exchange.

 

Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of National Defense and Border Security

“This is a part of their goodwill visit to Belize. It was a marching band presentation along with their honor guard and their Taekwondo team, all from the Taiwanese Naval Academy. A part of their graduating class, we actually had a Belizean, who is Officer Cadet Broaster, who also came as a part of the crew of this ship. So, you know, it’s the culmination of four years of training for Officer Cadet Broaster and 37 years of relationship between Belize and Taiwan. We had an officer, now a pilot in the BDF who did his initial pilot training at the Taiwanese Air Force Academy. Officer Cadet Bross is actually going back to Taiwan, along with the ship, and he’s actually going into their Marine Corps training to specialize in being a marine infantry type officer. And so what we find is that Taiwan helps us a lot in specialty training in different ways to develop the capacity. Like I said, Taiwan has cracked the code. They invest in Belize’s most important resource, and that’s Belize’s people.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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