CATEGORY:DIPLOMATIC MOVE ---------------------------- INSIDE GRENADA Thursday February 22,2007 THE CHINESE EMBASSY in Saint Lucia is calling on the new administration of Prime Minister Sir John Compton to speed up the signing a memorandum of understanding on continued relations. Apparently anxious about the future of their decade-old diplomatic ties with Castries, Chinese officials have warned that Taiwan is attempting to sabotage ties between China and Saint Lucia. The Saint Lucia government is yet to make an official pronouncement on the issue. Under the previous United Workers Party (UWP) government, Saint Lucia established diplomatic relations with Taiwan. But when the Labour Party swept to power in 1997, the ties were broken in favour of relations with mainland China , which regards Taiwan as a renegade province. Now that the UWP is no longer in government, the Chinese are anxious about another diplomatic switch. Chinese Ambassador Gu Huaming is especially concerned about what he called post-election attempts by Taiwan to sabotage the existing relations between his country and Saint Lucia. He said Taiwan's leader during a visit to Nicaragua in January, made an all-out effort to visit St Lucia, but that the government in Castries refused. He said other efforts by Taiwanese diplomats in the region had also been made to woo St Lucia back into the Taiwanese camp. The Chinese Ambassador told the BBC that his government has already congratulated the new administration on its election win, and expressed an interest in continuing ties developed under the former government. He said China was awaiting the signing of a memorandum of understanding. When the matter was put to Saint Lucia's Foreign Minister, Rufus Bousquet, he acknowledged that China had been very generous to Saint Lucia, and that the island must show its appreciation. But Mr Bousquet also indicated that St Lucia's future relations was something that the government had to consider very carefully. "It's a matter for the entire government and for the Cabinet of ministers to decide" he told BBC Caribbean. The Chinese have, since establishing diplomatic relations with Saint Lucia, undertaken several construction projects on the island. Article reprinted from BBCCaribbean.com