Thursday, May 24, 2018

Taiwan loses second ally in a month amid China pressure

Reuters - Taiwan now has only one diplomatic ally left in Africa – the tiny kingdom of Swaziland - and formal relations with just 18 countries worldwide, many of them poor nations in Central America and the Pacific like Belize and Nauru.

The Burkina foreign ministry’s statement made no direct mention of China, but said “the evolution of the world and the socio-economic challenges of our country and region push us to reconsider our position”.

Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference in Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not engage in “dollar diplomacy” and denounced Beijing’s methods.

“China toys with dollar diplomacy and promises huge sums of money to entice many countries to build relations,” Tsai said.

“I want to emphasize again that China’s pressure will only lead to Taiwan’s ties with its partners in the international community getting closer. We will not cower at all.”

Taiwan has accused China of luring its friends away with offers of generous aid packages. China denies this, and says Taiwan is a part of China with no right to formal diplomatic ties with any other country.

Speaking shortly before the president, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said he had offered his resignation to her.

Wu said that Taiwan cannot compete with China’s financial resources.

“I along with our country’s people feel sad, angry and regretful,” he said.

“China grabbing our allies and giving us pressure in the diplomatic space will not shrink the distance across the (Taiwan) strait and will not let cross-strait relations walk on a peaceful, friendly path.”

China’s foreign ministry said in a brief statement it welcomed Burkina to “join in China-Africa friendly cooperation as soon as possible”.

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