By Peter Richards PORT OF SPAIN, Dec 17 (IPS) - After Hurricane Ivan battered his small Caribbean island in September, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada went shopping for assistance to rebuild. China was not excluded. Now, back in the capital St George's after a two-day official visit to Beijing, Mitchell is likely to decide if he will ditch long-time ”friend” Taiwan in favour of the Communist mainland, which already counts a number of influential Caribbean states among its allies. China and Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province, have long fought for supremacy among the region's governments, via a process many observers call ”dollar diplomacy” -- providing millions of dollars in aid in exchange for recognition. In recent years China has been winning more and more of these skirmishes. In March, for example, Grenada's northern neighbour Dominica severed ties with Taipei and, almost immediately, Beijing pledged 112 million dollars in aid to the tiny island of 70,000 people. Only about 25 countries in the world still recognise Taiwan and almost half of them are in the Caribbean and Central America, and desperately in need of funds. A Grenadian government statement this week said Mitchell would travel to meet Chinese officials and ”discuss issues pertinent to the creation of economic and technical cooperation.” Government spokesman Selwyn Noel stopped short of indicating the talks were aimed at exploring the possibility of establishing diplomatic ties, saying only, ”Grenada is seeking to obtain support for its restoration and reconstruction efforts” following the destruction caused by Ivan. That rebuilding is estimated to cost the small island state of 90,000 inhabitants 740 million U.S. dollars. Noel said the central theme of the discussions would be the fact that ”Grenada and other small island developing states (SIDS) are vulnerable to natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes.” ”It is in this context that the prime minister sees globalisation forcing Grenada and other SIDS to forge partnerships and stronger linkages with the international community, in which China plays a major role,” he added in the statement. Grenada has been Taiwan's most vocal ally in the Caribbean, advocating for its acceptance in international forums such as the current session of the United Nations General Assembly. It has also sought to have Taiwan included in a number of regional institutions, such as the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). China, meanwhile, has had close ties with Grenada's main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which described Mitchell's trip as nothing more than ”vulgar and opportunistic.” ”We have always said that this prime minister has no real friend, no real ally ... and we see his treatment of Taiwan in a similar vein -- that he is in fact willing to dump Taiwan, which has been a long time ally of his, in search of cash,” said NDC General Secretary Peter David. Two years ago, Mitchell expelled a Chinese diplomat who came to his island to hold talks with the opposition leader. Taiwan, which established diplomatic ties with Grenada on Jul. 20, 1989, also expressed ”deepest concern and regrets about the trip.” ”Over the (past) 15 years, Taiwan has continued to provide assistance to Grenada in diverse areas including financial grants and soft loans, infrastructure, education, health and agriculture,” said the Taiwanese Embassy in St George's. ”If the Government of Grenada establishes diplomatic relations with communist China it will harm the diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, which will not be in the best interest for Grenada on a long-term basis,” it added in a statement. Taiwan has already promised 40 million dollars to re-build Grenada's national stadium complex and has offered millions more for relief. But leading Caribbean political scientist Neville Duncan believes Mitchell is right to seek closer links with China, despite Taiwanese objections. ”We have to go with China, I cannot see that the Caribbean has any other choice, but to develop a relationship with China,” Duncan told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) Wednesday. While the region has always had trouble determining whether it should have relations with Taiwan or China, he added, ”the point has come now where we have to look more to China as the future.” ”The thing is that China is emerging as an extremely strong country in the world economy and it's going to find a better and more effective place in the future,” said Duncan, who teaches at the University of the West Indies. Among the Caribbean states that recognise China are Barbados, Jamaica, St Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Dominica. Taiwan's allies include St Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Belize and St Kitts-Nevis. The Bahamas appears to have benefited tremendously from its decision in 2001 to switch allegiance from Taiwan to China. The island nation has been able to attract the Hong Kong-based shipping conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, whose owner Li Ka-shing is known to have close connections with the political and military leadership in Beijing. China has always insisted that Taiwan, which split from the mainland in 1949 after the Communist Party took power, is nothing more than a renegade province. Duncan brushed aside Taiwan's concerns that Mitchell's trip would hamper relations between St George's and Taipei, saying the region needs to forge alliances that will allow it to ”find better markets and to develop more efficaciously”. ”We cannot allow ourselves to be blackmailed by Taiwan in terms of deciding with whom to align in the world,” he said adding, ”the point is that as far as the world is concerned, China and Taiwan are one and although the Taiwanese insist that they're separate and apart from China, the world officially recognises that it is part of China.” Reprinted from ipsnews.net