Grenada Resumes Diplomatic Ties With Beijing

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

24 January 2005

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his Grenadian counterpart Elvin Nimrod signed an agreement in Beijing last week resuming diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The resumption of Grenada’s One China policy will mean an end to its 16-year diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.

Grenada first established diplomatic relations with China in October 1985, but the mainland decided to suspend ties with the Caribbean jurisdiction in August 1989, two months after the latter openly recognized the Taiwanese authorities.

Recent comments by Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell have suggested that financial backing has not been forthcoming, and that Taiwan has been a less-than-generous benefactor for his country. He has argued that an official approach to China was a question of survival for Grenada, especially as the country attempts to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.

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

However, the Taiwanese government has responded by accusing Grenada of exploiting Sino-Taiwan rivalry in order to extract more financial assistance.

"Grenada had tried to cash in on the confrontation between Taiwan and China, but we refused to play the money game with the mainland,” a Taiwanese finance ministry spokesman stated, according to reports.

On his recent trip to Beijing, Mitchell concluded a six-year aid deal with the People’s Republic to help the post-Ivan recovery.

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