Caribbean & Central America - May 2007 (ISSN 1741-4458)

On 25 April the government of Saint Lucia announced that it wants to renew diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The move, initiated by Prime Minister John Compton, makes Saint Lucia the 25th country to recognise Taiwan. Thirteen of the 25 countries are in Latin America and the Caribbean. By contrast, some 170 countries recognise China, or the People's Republic of China (PRC), and see Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), as its breakaway province.

St. Lucia broke ties with Taiwan and recognized China in 1984 when Prime Minister Kenneth Anthony came to power. Saint Lucia's foreign minister, Rufus Bousquet, said that the government's decision to recognise Taiwan did not mean it wanted to break ties with Beijing, but China refuses to have relations with countries that have diplomatic ties to Taiwan, as they consider Taiwan a renegade province. The Taiwanese foreign minister, James Huang, visited Saint Lucia in December 2006 and March 2007, provoking fierce criticism from China.

"We have been very careful about making this decision, and now that we have taken it, we do not expect the Chinese will love us any more for it," Bousquet said. "But we expect that they will conduct themselves in a manner that is acceptable to our government." Bousquet said that the decision was based on which country could offer a better deal to St. Lucia, where 20% of the population lives in poverty. 

Chinese reaction
China, which has built a stadium and was finishing a psychiatric hospital here, called the move a "brutal interference in China's internal affairs." A statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency on 1 May by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said, "We express indignation and opposition."

Ties with China did not improve the lot of many St. Lucians. The last 10 years has seen a handful of Chinese businesses open on the island, mainly restaurants and shops. But St. Lucia has not seen the predicted influx of Chinese tourists. 

For its part, Taiwan propagated new strains of fruits and vegetables and introduced agricultural techniques during its time here. Bousquet said Taiwan has agreed to help St. Lucia diversify its agriculture sector, boost tourism, develop livestock and create information technology learning centers, all of which fit into the government's plans to combat poverty. 

• Suriname
  Producers on Suriname's state-owned Suriname Television Foundation (STVS) pulled the plug on a live broadcast of a news programme on 10 May after the country's vice-president, Ram Sardjoe, asked them to cut interviews on the China-Taiwan issue to avoid offending Beijing. "I regret that the producers are claiming that they were being censored, but as the government we have to look after the national interest of the country.