Taiwan severed diplomatic ties with Nicaragua shortly after the Central American nation on Thursday switched recognition to China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Taiwan recalled staff from its embassy and technical mission after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s administration announced that it would only recognize China, the ministry said.
“The People’s Republic of China [PRC] is the only legitimate government that represents all China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory,” the Nicaraguan government said in a statement. “As of today, Nicaragua breaks its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and ceases to have any official contact or relationship.”
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Although Nicaragua’s diplomatic switch leaves Taiwan with just 14 diplomatic allies, it comes as Taipei bolsters ties with multiple unofficial Western friends, including the US.
The ministry said that Taiwan “deeply regrets” that the Nicaraguan government has disregarded the friendship between Taiwanese and Nicaraguans.
“To safeguard national sovereignty and dignity, Taiwan has decided to terminate diplomatic relations with Nicaragua with immediate effect, end all bilateral cooperation projects and aid programs, and recall staff of its embassy and technical mission in Nicaragua,” it said.
The ministry also expressed “strong condemnation” of Beijing, saying China had forced Taiwan’s ally to switch allegiance in an attempt to squeeze Taipei’s international space.
“The people of Taiwan will not cave to China’s pressure,” it said.
The ministry added that Taiwan was not part of the PRC, which has never ruled over Taiwan.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that despite Nicaragua’s decision, Taiwan would not abdicate its responsibilities as a member of the international democratic community.
“The more successful Taiwan’s democracy, and the greater the international support, then the greater the pressure from the authoritarian camp,” Tsai said. “Whether it’s diplomatic pressure or military intimidation, we will not change our determination to adhere to democracy and freedom, to go on the international stage and participate.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said there was no “economic preconditions” to establishing ties, adding that it was “a policy decision, and definitely not a trading of bargaining chips.”
This is the second time that Nicaragua has cut ties with Taiwan under Ortega.
In 1985, Ortega’s government ended 55 years of formal relations with Taiwan and switched recognition to China.
After Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro replaced him as president in 1990, ties with Taiwan resumed, subsequently being maintained by Ortega after he returned to office in 2007.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Education said it would provide necessary support and assistance to the 143 Nicaraguan students living in Taiwan who wish to continue their studies here.
There are no Taiwanese nationals studying in Nicaragua, it added.
Since May 2016, when Tsai came to office, Taiwan has lost eight diplomatic allies: Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Kiribati, Nicaragua, Panama, Sao Tome and Principe, and the Solomon Islands.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2