BEIJING (Reuters) – China is ready to deepen its comprehensive cooperative partnership with Caribbean nations, President Xi Jinping said on Monday during a meeting in Beijing with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada, a former diplomatic ally of Taiwan.
China is willing to continue helping regional countries to help their economic and social development, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.
Grenada has benefited greatly from its ties with China and looks forward to strengthening cooperation with the Asian giant, Mitchell was quoted as saying at the meeting.
“Both sides should … draw a new blueprint for the long-term development of high-level bilateral relations,” Xi said, adding that two-way ties have developed successfully over the past two decades.
Mitchell said Grenada firmly adheres to the one-China principle and called for respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Xinhua added.
Mitchell, the first foreign leader Xi has met this year in Beijing, has been on a week-long official visit to China since Saturday.
The Caribbean and Latin America have the largest concentration of Taiwan’s allies, with seven of the remaining 12 allies in the region.
China considers the democratically governed island as part of its territory with no right to interstate ties, a position strongly contested by the Taiwanese government.
Taiwan severed ties with Grenada 20 years ago after the Caribbean nation switched ties with China.
In the Caribbean, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines remain its allies.
For years, China and Taiwan have traded accusations of using “dollar diplomacy” as they compete for diplomatic recognition.
Last year, Taiwanese security officials said they believed China was likely to continue reducing the number of its allies.
