ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Jan 12 2015, CNS – China’s Ambassador to Grenada Ou Boqian walked out of a function on Sunday night while a member of the Dr. Keith Mitchell administration was making reference to an agreement reached between Taiwan and Grenada over a long standing debt.
Parliament Secretary for Information in the Office of the Prime Minister Winston Garraway was at the time addressing the annual Media Association of Grenada (MWAG) Awards ceremony when he made reference to the decision by Taiwan, which Bejing regards as a renegade province, to reduce by 50 percent, the EC$60 million the island owes for loans contracted over a 10 year period.
Prime Minister Mitchell had told television viewers last week that St. George’s will only have to repay approximately EC$30 million of the loans which became an issue when Grenada severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 2005. Grenada established diplomatic relations with china that same year.
The Chinese diplomat, accompanied by another Chinese official, remained outside the Grenada Trade Center until Garraway had concluded his address.
The Chinese Embassy here has not commented on the incident but the Chinese ambassador is reported to have objected to the wording of the news release announcing the deal reached with Taipei.
Soon after Mitchell had announced the agreement reached with Taiwan, the Government Information Service (GIS) issued and later recalled a news release providing details on the terms and conditions of the accord.
Government Press Secretary Kisha Alexander-Grant in an email said: “Please note that we need to correct our original story for Diplomatic reasons, especially the part where Prime Minister is quoted.”
