The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China hereby solemnly makes the following statement: The government of the Republic of China regrets that the government of Grenada, being lured through financial incentives from the People’s Republic of China, has decided to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. In order to uphold our national interests and dignity, the government of the Republic of China has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Grenada as of today.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of China and Grenada on July 20, 1989, the Republic of China has actively assisted Grenada in various infrastructure and development projects that have benefited the general welfare of that country. The successive governments and people of Grenada have found the assistance provided by the Republic of China to be satisfactory. In addition, both have worked closely together in international cooperation. When Grenada was severely devastated by Hurricane Ivan on September 7, 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China provided immediate humanitarian aid. The Minister of Foreign Affairs also led a delegation to disaster-struck areas, provided US$200,000 in supplies to Grenada and turned a US$1.5 million fund for infrastructure projects into a disaster-relief fund that was endowed without any preconditions. Furthermore, this ministry granted a substantial part of a US$ 8 million package for damage reconstruction work in Grenada.
Nevertheless, the incumbent Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, lacking foresight, incorrectly believes that by his leaning towards the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan can be pressured into significantly increasing the financial assistance we provide to Grenada, pay that country’s national debt on its behalf and increase the Five-year Cooperation Plan to as high as US$245 million. Despite the fact that the government of the Republic of China considered Grenada’s requests to be insatiable and beyond our capacity, we still made our best efforts to assist the government of Grenada by way of the Financial Bail-out Package, the Stadium Expansion Project and other major projects. Regrettably, Prime Minister Mitchell still found our assistance unsatisfactory.
The Ministry is fully aware that Prime Minister Mitchell has been in contact with China and has been lured by Beijing. We have done everything possible to dissuade Prime Minister Mitchell from such behavior, but he has continued to act against our advice. He visited Beijing to negotiate issues concerning the establishment of diplomatic ties with China, and even sent a letter to our government stating that the government of Grenada intended only to retain informal relations with us. As a result, the Ministry recalled our ambassador to Grenada on December 22 last year and expressed our most serious protest to Prime Minister Mitchell. In Beijing, the Foreign Minister of Grenada, Elvin Nimrod, signed a joint communiqué with the Foreign Minister of People’s Republic of China, Li Zhaoxing, announcing the formal establishment of diplomatic relations. On January 27 the government of Grenada formally notified the ROC Embassy of the decision to withdraw its diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China. In order to safeguard our national interests and dignity, our government has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Grenada. The government of the Republic of China regrets Prime Minister Mitchell’s lack of foresight. We have stated sincerely our intention of not participating in a meaningless game of “dollar diplomacy” with China, and will never let Grenada waver between the two sides of the Strait in order to seek profits. The government of the Republic of China expresses its serious protest against, and condemns, the People’s Republic of China for its use of “dollar diplomacy” to drive us out of the international community. The Republic of China conducts cooperation projects with friendly allies based on a spirit of mutual economic prosperity. In the future, we will continue to expand our international presence based on established policies and goals, and protect the highest interests and welfare of our people with firm resolve and pragmatism.（E）
