Mitchell’s deal with the Chinese has angered Taipei, which since the civil war continues to compete fiercely with Beijing for diplomatic allies that will recognise the island's legitimacy, and the move looks likely to result in the severing of relations between Taiwan and Grenada.

"For the dignity of our nation, we will never play ‘dollar diplomacy’ with China," remarked a disgruntled Mark Chen, Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs.

However, in a subsequent statement released after his return from Beijing, Mitchell suggested that Taiwan has been a less-than-generous benefactor for his country, and argued that an official approach to China was a question of survival for Grenada.

“The way the relationship (with Taiwan) was being managed is a source of grave concern to us here in Grenada,” Mitchell commented.

“The feed back we had from diplomatic initiatives and behind-the-scenes approaches led us to the conclusion that Grenada was no longer important to Taiwan,” he added.

Mitchell noted that the majority of fellow Caribbean nations have established diplomatic ties with China, whilst only a handful of countries around the world have formal relations with Tawian.

“Politically and diplomatically, it is in the long term best interest of Grenada to ensure that it does not become an isolated State within the polarized but wider global community. This has become all the more crucial, given the post-Ivan challenges that have left us considerably more vulnerable than we were before,” he observed.