Beijing is in a position to deepen its integral cooperative association with the Caribbean countries, said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during an assembly in Beijing with Grenadán’s prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, whose country was a best diplomatic friend of Taiwan.
China is willing to keep up assistance to regional nations to aid their economic and social development, Xinhua news agency cited Xi as saying.
Grenada has benefited greatly from ties with China and is concerned about cooperation with China, Mitchell told Reunion.
Photo: Reuters
“Both sides should … draw a new blueprint for the long-term and high-level development of bilateral relations,” Xi said, adding that two-way ties had developed successfully over the past two decades.
Mitchell said Granada firmly adheres to the “Chinese principle” and requested that of its sovereignty and its territorial integrity, added Xinhua.
Mitchell, the first foreign leader, Xi met this year in Beijing this year, on a week-long official stop in China from Saturday.
The Caribbean and Latin America have the largest concentration of diplomatic allies of Taiwan, with seven of the remaining 12 UN member states who are allies in the region.
Taiwan cut ties with Grenada 20 years ago after the Caribbean country switched dilomatic ties with China.
In the Caribbean, Haiti, San Kitts and Nevis, Sainte-Lucie and Saint-Vincent and Granadas are Taiwan diplomat allies.
China and Taiwan have exchanged rates from the accusations of use of “dollar diplomacy”, compete for diplomatic recognition.
Taiwanese security officials have said that they believed China is likely to continue to whittle away at the number of its diplomatic allies.