Grenada is buzzing with speculation as to the future of the country’s relations with Taiwan now that the prime minister has left on a trip to rival China to seek funds for hurricane relief. The announcement of the trip came from the office of Prime Minister Keith Mitchell only hours before his flight was scheduled to leave on Friday for London, where he was making a stopover. Grenada recognises the Taiwanese government and has supported United Nations resolutions to recognize Taiwan, which China insists Taiwan is part of its territory. “The buzz around Grenada is that the island is about to break its long-standing 20-year old relations with Taiwan, which has been Grenada’s biggest aid donor for over a decade” said the Grenada-based news website CaribUpdate. It said foreign minister Elvin Nimrod helped negotiate the trip to China. Only last August Mr Nimrod was among three Eastern Caribbean ministers who, at a meeting in Taipei, reiterated their staunch backing for Taiwan to join international organisations, such as the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. "Dollar diplomacy" Taiwanese officials were reportedly caught by surprise by the announcement of the Beijing visit and were said to be monitoring the situation. China and Taiwan have accused each other of “dollar diplomacy” to win votes at the United Nations, and both have poured money into the Caribbean in an effort to win recognition. Dominica made the switch from Taiwan to China in April which left Taipei fuming that it could not match the Chinese offer of US$112 million in aid. If Grenada follows suit, that would leave St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Belize and Haiti as the Caricom nations with ties to Taiwan. Some sources in Grenada have said that the government was unhappy with what they considered an initially slow response by Taiwan to Grenada’s post-hurricane plight. The Taiwanese eventually pledged US$40 million to rebuild Grenada's cricket stadium along with millions of dollars in other aid. A delegation of business people is accompanying the Grenada prime minister. Reprinted from bbccaribbean.com