Taiwan says resumes ties with tiny St. Lucia

TAIPEI, May 1 (Reuters) Taiwan has resumed diplomatic ties with the Caribbean island of St Lucia, the Foreign Ministry said today, taking its number of diplomatic allies to 25 and potentially upsetting China.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it had reestablished ties yesterday with a tropical resort island just 43 km long with a population of 165,000.

St Lucia broke ties with Taiwan in 1997, but the ruling party has since changed.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and under its ''one China'' policy forbids diplomatic allies from official contact with Taipei.

REUTERS RJ ND0850