Taiwan yesterday severed diplomatic ties with Nauru after the South Pacific state’s sudden switch of recognition to China, two days after the presidential and legislative elections.
The Nauruan government yesterday said that “in the best interests” of the nation and its people it was seeking full resumption of diplomatic relations with China.
“This means that the Republic of Nauru will no longer recognize the Republic of China (Taiwan) as a separate country, but rather as an inalienable part of China’s territory, and will sever ‘diplomatic relations’ with Taiwan as of this day and no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan,” it said in a statement.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
In Taipei, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) told a news conference yesterday that to “safeguard national sovereignty and dignity,” Taiwan had decided to terminate diplomatic relations with Nauru with immediate effect.
The nation also ended all bilateral cooperation projects, and recalled staff from its embassy and technical mission in Nauru, as well as requesting that Nauru close its embassy in Taipei, he said.
After the switch, Taiwan has official diplomatic relations with 12 UN member states.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtained information last year showing that China had been contacting political figures in Nauru and using economic incentives to convince the nation to switch ties, Tien said.
Former Nauruan president Russ Joseph Kun had planned a diplomatic shift and displayed an indecisive attitude during his visit to Taiwan in October last year, which he planned to cancel at one point, he said.
The Nauruan parliament ousted Kun in a vote of no confidence on Oct. 25 last year and elected David Adeang on Oct. 30, after which relations temporarily stabilized, he said.
However, Nauru continued to ask for huge amounts of economic aid from Taiwan and the amounts requested “far surpassed” what Taiwan normally provides to diplomatic allies for cooperation projects, which proved China has once again engaged in “dollar diplomacy” to lure away Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, he added.
Taiwan “deeply regrets” that the Nauruan government has disregarded long-term assistance from Taiwan and the friendship between the two nations, Tien said.
The government has implemented plans in Nauru that benefit the livelihood of its people, and its national development in fields such as agriculture and fisheries, medical and healthcare, education, vocational training, energy, infrastructure, economy and trade, and women’s empowerment, he said.
Taiwan also condemned the former ally for acting in concert with China and misinterpreting UN Resolution 2758, which Beijing manipulates to claim that Taiwan is part of China, he added.
Taiwan established diplomatic relations with Nauru in 1980, but terminated the ties after it switched recognition to Beijing in 2002. Nauru restored its ties with Taiwan in 2005 when China failed to provide most of the aid programs it had promised.
Taiwan urges Beijing to “give up confrontation and return to the track of the international order” to seek mutually beneficial solutions with Taiwan and all parties in the region, Tien said.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said it is “deeply regrettable,” as Nauru’s decision is not beneficial to people on both sides or regional stability.
China’s continued efforts to lure Taiwan’s diplomatic allies with false promises and to suppress the nation’s international space would not sap the Taiwanese will to engage with the world, nor do they change the fact that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other, she said.
The Democratic Progressive Party yesterday said that Taiwan would not yield to China’s attempts to limit its international space through diplomatic means.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) blamed the DPP administration for causing multiple diplomatic challenges, while calling on Beijing not to suppress the international space of the Republic of China.
Calling Nauru’s move regrettable, Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said it was necessary to maintain diversified exchanges with other nations to create common interests, strengthen cooperation and build influence with them.
Additional reporting by Reuters and CNA
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
RSS