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Taiwan has lost one of its few diplomatic allies after Nauru switched recognition to Beijing, a sign of increasing Chinese pressure on the country after it elected Lai Ching-te its new president.
The Pacific island nation’s move on Monday came two days after Lai from the ruling Democratic Progressive party, denounced by Beijing as a dangerous separatist, won presidential elections.
China’s foreign ministry said Beijing “appreciates and welcomes” Nauru’s switch of diplomatic recognition.
Taipei called the shift a malicious attack by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has sought to isolate it internationally. Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Nauru, which began talks with China on establishing formal ties last year, tried to extract “huge” financial aid from Taipei by comparing its aid with far larger promises from Beijing.
China “particularly chose to put this into motion at the key moment when we completed our democratic elections”, said Tien Chung-kwang, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister. “Their motive is to deal a blow to the Taiwanese people’s confidence in the democracy and freedom we should be proud of. That nakedly displays the true nature of communist totalitarianism.”
Nauru’s change of ties reduced the number of countries that recognise Taiwan as a sovereign independent state to just 12.
The announcement also came as an unofficial US delegation held talks with Lai and other political leaders in Taipei. The delegation included former national security adviser Stephen J Hadley, former deputy secretary of state James B Steinberg and Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s quasi-embassy in Taipei.
“I hope the US will continue to support Taiwan, deepen Taiwan-US mutually beneficial co-operation in various areas and safeguard regional peace and prosperity together with its democratic partners,” Lai said on meeting the mission. Washington sent similar groups following the elections in 2000 and 2016.
Poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies is a tactic China has used extensively against outgoing president Tsai Ing-wen and former president Chen Shui-bian, both from the DPP, which Beijing detests because the party refuses to define Taiwan as part of China.
Under former president Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang, which says Taiwan belongs to China although it disagrees with Beijing over which state should rule that nation, Beijing suspended those efforts.
Last year, Honduras cut ties with Taiwan in favour of China, following other countries in the region including Nicaragua, El Salvador and Panama, but Taipei retained the allegiance of Paraguay, where relations with the island had become an election issue.
Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said the timing of the Nauru measure suggested it was intended to punish Taipei for Lai’s victory.
“It could be China’s first major retaliation against the newly elected Lai Ching-te administration,” Shi said.
He added that after the president’s inauguration on May 20, China would probably continue or even step up its pressure campaign against the DPP.
“Beijing is not even giving Lai Ching-te a ‘probation period’ to wait and assess what he will say in his inaugural address,” said James Chen, a foreign relations expert at Tamkang University in Taipei who advised KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih during the campaign. “These moves will definitely continue.”
Additional reporting by Wenjie Ding in Beijing
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