| Title | Taiwan Weighs Options after Diplomatic Allies Switch Allegiance | |
| Date | Thursday September 26 2019, @06:07PM | |
| Author | janrinok | |
| Topic | ||
| from the in-the-balance dept. | ||
As China's footprint grows, Taiwan wants to keep its few formal allies close while deepening informal links with world.
The first to go was the Solomon Islands, which broke with Taiwan on September 16 ending a 36-year diplomatic relationship.
Four days later, it was Kiribati. The Pacific island nation had established diplomatic relations with Taipei in 2003.
Both countries were wooed by China with offers of development aid and assistance.
"If we give up now, Taiwan's future generations will lose their sovereignty, their freedom, and their democracy; we will lose everything."
In all, seven countries have severed ties with Taiwan since Tsai, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), came to office three years ago. It now has formal diplomatic relations with just 15 nations, including the Vatican.
Some 70 years after China's nationalists fled the mainland to establish their capital in Taipei, the diplomatic tide has now almost completely turned in favour of the communist-led government in Beijing.
Shaohua Hu, professor in government and politics at New York's Wagner College and author of the 2017 book Foreign Policies towards Taiwan, noted that China's efforts to pick off Taiwan's political allies was a political strategy.
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printed from SoylentNews, Taiwan Weighs Options after Diplomatic Allies Switch Allegiance on 2024-04-25 19:02:57