Taiwan loses another ally to China

[webfact]

Taiwan loses another ally to China

 

FILE PHOTO: Military honour guards attend a flag-raising ceremony at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, in Taipei, Taiwan March 16, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

 

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan lost another ally to Beijing on Tuesday when diplomatic ties with El Salvador were severed, as China presses the remaining nations with diplomatic links to Taipei to end them.

 

Taiwan now has formal relations with just 17 countries worldwide, many of them poor nations in Central America and the Pacific like Belize and Nauru.

 

"We are not willing to continue with the money competition with China," Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said at a press conference.

 

He said El Salvador had been continuously asking for "massive funding support" since last year for a port development, but Taiwan was unable to assist with the "unsuitable project" after assessment.

 

"Pressure from China would only make Taiwan more determined to continue our path of democracy and freedom."

 

Separately, El Salvador's President Salvador Sanchez Ceren announced in a nationally televised speech that his government had broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and instead established new diplomatic ties with China.

 

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.

 

(Taiwan's political allies IMG,

 

The news comes as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen wrapped up a high-profile trip to Latin America, including stops in the United States, that drew broad criticism from China.

 

Tsai on Monday echoed Wu's comments, saying the self-ruled island would not bow to pressure and that pressure would only boost Taiwan's "determination to go abroad".

 

El Salvador is the fifth country Taiwan will lose as a diplomatic ally since President Tsai came to office in 2016, following Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome and Principe and Panama.

 

China's hostility to Taiwan has grown since Tsai's election as Beijing fears she wishes to push for the island’s formal independence, a red line for China. She says she wants to maintain the status quo.

 

(Reporting By Jessica Macy Yu and Yimou Lee; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-21

[mfd101]

Beijing's response to 200 years of bullying from The West & Japan is, now in the C21st, to become the world's biggest bully, at least as brutal and cynical as Usofa.

[mike324]

Beijing is buying up countries one by one, just take a look at all the African countries that have accepted hand outs and support from China, many are even more in debt in a bid to modernize the country and will be China's slaves for decades to come.

[tonbridgebrit]

3 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Beijing's response to 200 years of bullying from The West & Japan is, now in the C21st, to become the world's biggest bully, at least as brutal and cynical as Usofa.

Yeah, Beijing learnt how to do this by watching the West and Japan. The student is now better at doing it than the master.   ?

[tonbridgebrit]

15 minutes ago, mike324 said:

Beijing is buying up countries one by one, just take a look at all the African countries that have accepted hand outs and support from China, many are even more in debt in a bid to modernize the country and will be China's slaves for decades to come.

Beijing has learnt from Britan and France's taking over of Africa. Britain and France, throw in Portugal as well, sent soldiers into Africa. Beijing is not making the same mistake. Expand into them, but never use the army, that's the new way of doing things.  ?

Edited August 21, 2018 by tonbridgebrit

[mfd101]

47 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

The student is now better at doing it than the master.   ?

The student has deep deep pockets.

[connda]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Taiwan now has formal relations with just 17 countries worldwide, many of them poor nations in Central America and the Pacific like Belize and Nauru.

Those countries are irrelevant.  The only country that is applying pressure that is stopping reunification is the US.  That's simply reality. 

[Nice Boyd]

Never trust the Chins...

[DrTuner]

After Taiwan... Philippines, Indos, PNG, Oz, NZ, then South America, North America.. and then the commies have finally won. Unless they're stopped dead on their tracks. 

[GinBoy2]

It's a little disingenuous to say Taiwan has no allies.

Although the US has, since Nixon pursued the One China policy, the American Institute in Taipei is essentially the US Embassy, and performs all those functions that any US Embassy would.

Nobody doubts that if push came to shove and the People's Liberation Army decided to cross the Straits that the USN wouldn't be there to defend them.

Pretty sure , although I have no direct knowledge, most other Western countries basically operate on the same principle

[Trouble]

Wonder what would happen if the US of A would recognize the Republic of China as an independent nation and open a full Embassy?  Nixon and Kissinger basically dumped Taiwan for the Peoples Republic in agreeing to a one-China policy. One of many of the things Kissinger was involved in negotiating that lead to future problems. Don't trust the USA.