China on Saturday cut diplomatic ties with St Lucia to protest the Carriban island's resuming ties with Taiwan, DPA reported. Beijing's ambassador to St Lucia, Gu Huaming, on behalf of the Chinese government, announced the suspension of diplomatic ties and the cancellations of all agreements between the governments of the two countries, the official Xinhua news agency said. The agency report said Chinese workers would leave St Lucia within a month. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement that the resumption of "diplomatic relations" between St. Lucia and Taiwan was a flagrant violation of the declaration on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and St. Lucia. China established diplomatic links with St. Lucia in 1997. The Caribbean island nation has a total area of 616 square kilometers and a population of 170,000. St Lucia resumed diplomatic ties with Taiwan on April 30 following the return to power by its opposition leader John Compton in Decemb er 2006. St Lucia had cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1997 to recognize China.
