Taiwan said Wednesday its ambassador in Grenada had returned to Taipei to brief the government, but denied he had been recalled as a protest against the Caribbean island's recent openings to rival China. China and Taiwan regularly accuse each other of "dollar diplomacy" as both pour money into some of the world's smallest and poorest countries to win official recognition. Grenada is one of just 27 African and Latin American nations that recognize Taiwan diplomatically instead of China. China and Taiwan split during civil war in 1949, but China insists that self-ruled Taiwan is a part of its territory and demands that diplomatic partners not maintain formal ties with Taiwan. Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell visited Beijing earlier this month, causing fears that the Caribbean state was about to drop Taiwan and switch recognition to China in return for financial aid. The visit was followed by a war of words between the two allies, with Grenada saying Taiwan was neglecting it, while Taipei shot back by saying it would not give in to any extortion. Taiwan denied media reports Wednesday it had recalled Ambassador Allan Jiang as a protest against Mitchell's behavior. "The ambassador is here in Taipei to deliver a report about the state of relations, but will return to Grenada soon," ministry spokesman Michel Ching-long Lu told The Associated Press, without elaborating. Mitchell announced he had negotiated a hurricane relief deal during his visit to China, but he refused to disclose details, saying the agreement had yet to be formally signed. Mitchell's complaints came despite Taiwan's offer of almost 322 million New Taiwan dollars (US$10 million) to help the country recover from Hurricane Ivan, which devastated the Caribbean country in September. Taiwan has also offered NT$1.3 billion (US$40 million) to help Grenada rebuild its cricket stadium. Reprinted from Asia.news.yahoo.com