The centerpiece event was his trip to San Pedro to see the ongoing work on the 33 million dollar Taiwanese funded general hospital. He met a smiling contingent of high level Belizean government officials - Jules Vasquez reports:

A group of government "glitterati" and the Taiwanese delegation listened keenly as the engineer on the new San Pedro General hospital outlined the plan for the 37,000 square foot facility.

Construction is still in the early stages and is expected to take three years.

The hospital will serve tens of thousands of residents and thousands of annual visitors:

Andre Perez, Area Rep., Belize Rural South
"This hospital will be serving as much as 30 30,000 people here in Caye Caulker and San Pedro, and as well as tourism that it swells at times for the busy season."

Wally Nunez, Mayor of San Pedro Town
"As we've grown, our access to health care has not kept pace. Every Islander here knows the reality. Specialized care, especially for emergencies, is often just out of reach."

"As a pilot, I have personally witnessed the difficulty and stress our families endure during a medical emergency at night, knowing that immediate help is hours away or comes comes only through costly charters."

"This is not something that a world class destination should face, nor is it something that our residents should bear."

Andre Perez, Area Rep., Belize Rural South
"That this building is being built correctly, in tune with climate change. Building a building that is so resilient that will be able to withstand hurricanes."

Withstand hurricanes and provide specialist services:

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
"So this new facility will complement existing services and expand to include specialty care, significantly reducing the cost and saving lives. New services, of course, will include internal medicine, surgery, pediatric care and obstetric care, encompassing prenatal intrapartum and postnatal care, as well as preventative and curative services for children and adults. Surgeries, including emergency procedures for conditions like appendicitis and ectopic pregnancies, as well as elective surgeries like gallstone removal, will also be performed at this very new facility."

And while it is about saving lives, for Taiwan it's also about diplomacy - and a grand gesture to one of its 12 remaining allies:

Dr. Lin Chia-Lung, Taiwan Foreign Minister
"Both our countries understand that this is integral to the alit of life and attach great importance to this project."

John Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize
"You have a true friend, a strong ally, and you can call on us at any time."

Dr Lin has now left the country to continue on his Caribbean and Central American tour to friendly nations, namely Guatemala, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia.