- Taiwan loses ally Nauru
- Election of pro-sovereignty president
- China asserts diplomatic retaliation
Taiwan has severed diplomatic relations with one of its last allies in Beijing, mere days after a new president was elected in Taipei.
The minuscule island of Nauru in Micronesia was one of twelve nations that maintained diplomatic relations with Taipei.
However, Beijing maintains that Taiwan is a part of China and has been recruiting its diplomatic allies in recent years.
According to Taiwan, this latest setback is attributable to the election results from the weekend, which infuriated China.
Voters elected pro-sovereignty candidate William Lai as their next president. Beijing has labeled Lai a “troublemaker” due to his previous statements endorsing Taiwanese independence, an issue that Beijing considers to be beyond the boundaries of its red line.
Officials from Taiwan stated that the timing of this development represents not only China’s retaliation against our democratic elections but also a direct challenge to the international order following the announcement by the government of Nauru that it would no longer recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation but rather as an inalienable portion of Chinese territory.
Taiwan Accuses China’s Tactics
On Monday at a media conference, Tien Chung-kwang, the deputy foreign minister of Taiwan, accused China of “buying over” Nauru with financial aid by capitalizing on recent “political fluctuations” in the country.
“China’s belief that it can subdue Taiwan using these methods is erroneous, in my opinion.” Global attention has been drawn to Taiwan’s democratic progress. Mr. Tien said democratic nations won’t recognize [Beijing] if it seizes Taiwan’s diplomatic relations in such disgusting ways.
He said his government is “extremely vigilant” against China’s international isolation of Taiwan.
Nauru’s decision was welcomed by China, which views the self-governing island of 23 million as a breakaway province that will eventually fall under Beijing’s jurisdiction.
China’s foreign ministry stated that the Nauruan government’s decision to resume diplomatic relations with China unequivocally reaffirms that the one-China principle represents the will of the people and the prevailing temporal trend.
Taiwan’s democratically elected authorities and separation from the Chinese mainland are not new, and Nauru previously did so.
Nauru’s Diplomatic Shift Analysis
Nauru underwent a comparable diplomatic transition to China in 2002; in May 2005, it resumed diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
According to analysts, Nauru’s action was not unforeseen.
“Nauru switching recognition from Taiwan to China has been possible for some time,” said Anna Powles, an associate professor of security studies at Massey University in New Zealand.
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Ms. Powles stated that the haste with which Australia pursued a treaty offering climate refuge to Tuvaluan citizens in late 2018 was indicative of apprehensions that Tuvalu, an additional Pacific nation, was “under pressure to switch recognition to China.”
She stated, “These concerns extended to Nauru.
“China is constantly seeking to erode Taiwan’s influence, particularly in the Pacific, where many small nations are seeking development gains,” said Mihai Sora, an Australian think tank research fellow in the Pacific Islands Program at Lowy Institute.
As Taiwan’s global diplomatic alliances diminish in number, the significance of each one escalates about its assertion of sovereignty… Moreover, China may persist in seeking opportunities to undermine that.
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