Less than 48 hours after Taiwan’s presidential election, Nauru has changed its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.
The government of Nauru, a small island nation in Micronesia located northeast of Australia, announced that it has chosen to acknowledge the People’s Republic of China and is working towards restoring complete diplomatic ties for the benefit of the Republic and its citizens.
Taiwan now has only 12 official diplomatic allies after this decision.
A representative from the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs stated that they were pleased with the decision and saw it as a new phase in the relationship between China and Nauru, based on the one-China principle.
The ministry of foreign affairs in Taiwan was notified of the decision on Sunday, which was the day following the election.
Tien Chung-kwang, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, stated that China deliberately chose this timing to make a significant impact. According to Tien, Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister who is currently in Guatemala, is extremely displeased with this development. Tien shared this information during a press conference in Taipei.
The recent election in Taiwan resulted in the re-election of the Democratic Progressive Party, a pro-independence government that China had wished to see removed from power.
In the past two terms, the Chinese government has intensified its efforts against Taiwan, asserting it as a province that it plans to assimilate, even though it has never been under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. These efforts included military actions, psychological warfare, and economic manipulation. Additionally, during Tsai Ing-wen’s presidency, Beijing was successful in persuading nine of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to switch their recognition. Nauru is now the tenth ally to do so.
Tien stated that it was too theoretical to determine if the decision would have been made at the same time and in the same manner, had the opposition Kuomintang party, favored by Beijing, won the election on Saturday.
He stated that regardless of the election outcome, China’s actions towards Taiwan remain oppressive, even within global organizations like the UN and the World Health Organization. He believes this serves as a clear demonstration of China’s treatment towards Taiwan for the rest of the world to witness.
Honduras was the most recent nation to cut off diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which occurred in April of last year. This marked the end of an 82-year period of mutual diplomatic recognition between the two countries.
Some of Taiwan’s allies have said openly their decisions were based largely on financial incentives. Honduras’s foreign minister said at the time that it was struggling financially and Taiwan had not answered a request to renegotiate $600m in debt or increase financial aid.
Honduras was accused by Taiwan of requesting over $2 billion and was advised not to align with China, as Taiwan warned against “drinking poison to quench your thirst.”
The Vice-minister, Tien, refused to address inquiries regarding Nauru’s financial requests. However, he did mention that China has a track record of providing unproductive projects to Nauru, known as “white elephants,” that do not fulfill their economic commitments.
Nauru has alternated its allegiance between Beijing and Taipei multiple times. It maintained diplomatic relations with Taipei from 1980 to 2002, then switched to Beijing from 2002 to 2005, and has since remained with Taipei since 2005.
The Nauru government announced on Monday that it will be implementing a one-China principle, acknowledging Beijing’s authority over Taiwan as an inseparable part of China’s land. While some countries, like the US, recognize Beijing as the official capital instead of Taipei, they do not acknowledge this claim.
The news of Nauru’s choice came as a shock to many people watching. Just last month, their former president, Russ Joseph Kun, traveled to Taiwan for an official visit and met with Tsai Ing-wen. Kun and his spouse were greeted with much excitement and praised during the Double Ten National Day celebration.
“According to Kun, Nauru sees Taiwan as family and is dedicated to supporting and working together to promote democracy, freedom, peace, sustainability, stability, and economic growth in our region.”
Unfortunately, shortly after Kun came back to Nauru, he was removed from power through a no-confidence vote and replaced by David Adeang. In the next month, representatives from Taiwan made a trip to Nauru.
According to Tien, Kun’s behavior during the visit was deemed “inconsistent,” causing worries in Taipei about the state of their relationship. Despite this, Nauru was one of the nations that extended congratulations to Taiwan for the successful elections on Sunday, as reported by the foreign affairs ministry. This made the announcement even more unexpected. Tien described the news as “sudden.”
Taiwan’s remaining allies are Guatemala, Belize, Haiti, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Americas. In the Pacific, it is still recognised by the Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu. Eswatini is its only African ally, and Vatican City the only one in Europe.
The Guardian was informed by Tuvalu’s ambassador to Taiwan, Bikenibeu Paeniu, that he was surprised by the decision and that the limited diplomatic team in Taiwan was not informed beforehand.
“It is truly disheartening, especially for myself and the citizens of Tuvalu,” he expressed. “We are aware of China’s actions, actively seeking alliances with nations in the Pacific.”
He stated that the aid provided by China to impoverished nations was not as clear as Taiwan’s.
This is a significant change for countries similar to ours. We are currently discussing the issue of climate change, and Taiwan is highly committed to assisting us in this regard. I had hoped that the four remaining Pacific islands would continue to stand together as allies, but now we will lose Nauru.
Source: theguardian.com
