Nauru broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in support of China

• China has labeled Lai a ‘troublemaker’ due to past remarks supporting Taiwanese independence, crossing a red line.
• Nauru has previously cut ties with Taiwan, despite Taiwan’s distinct status from the Chinese mainland.
• Concerns have been raised that Taiwan may switch recognition from Taiwan to China.

In a move favoring Beijing, one of Taiwan’s last diplomatic allies, Nauru, severs ties with the island just days after Taipei voted in a new president. Nauru, a tiny Micronesian island, had been one of 12 countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Taipei.

In recent years, Beijing, asserting Taiwan as part of China, has actively lured away diplomatic allies from Taiwan. Taiwan suggests that this recent diplomatic loss is linked to the election results over the weekend, where pro-sovereignty candidate William Lai was chosen as the next president.

Beijing has labeled Lai a ‘troublemaker’ due to past remarks supporting Taiwanese independence, crossing what China sees as a red line.

“This timing is not only China’s retaliation against our democratic elections but also a direct challenge to the international order,” Taiwanese officials said after Nauru’s government announced it would “no longer recognize [Taiwan] as a separate country but rather as an inalienable part of China’s territory”.

In a media conference on Monday, Taipei’s deputy foreign minister Tien Chung-kwang accused China of exploiting recent “political fluctuations” in Nauru to “buy over” the country with financial aid.

“China thinks it can suppress Taiwan with such methods, I think it is wrong. The world has noticed Taiwan’s democratic development. If [Beijing] continues to use such despicable methods to seize Taiwan’s diplomatic relations, democratic countries all over the world will not recognize it,” Mr Tien said.

Still, he stated that his ministry is “on strong alert” to counter any further moves from China aimed at isolating Taiwan on an international stage. China, perceiving the self-ruled island of 23 million as a breakaway province destined to fall under Beijing’s control, welcomed Nauru’s decision.

“The decision of the government of Nauru to resume diplomatic relations with China fully demonstrates once again that the one-China principle is the will of the people and the trend of the times,” China’s foreign ministry said.

Nauru has cut ties with Taiwan before, despite Taiwan considering itself distinct from the Chinese mainland, having its constitution, and democratically elected leaders. In 2002, Nauru made a similar diplomatic switch to China, later restoring relations with Taiwan in May 2005.

“The likelihood that Nauru would switch recognition from Taiwan to China has been on the cards for a while,” said Anna Powles, associate professor in security studies at New Zealand’s Massey University.

The speed at which Australia pursued a treaty offering climate refuge to Tuvalu citizens late last year reflected concerns that Tuvalu, another Pacific nation, was “under pressure to switch recognition to China”, Ms. Powles said.

“These concerns extended to Nauru,” she said.

“China is always looking to erode Taiwan’s influence, especially in the Pacific, where many small nations are looking for development gains,” said Mihai Sora, a research fellow in the Pacific Islands Program at Lowy Institute, a think tank based in Australia.

“As Taiwan has fewer diplomatic allies around the world, each one becomes more important in its claim to sovereignty… And China may continue to look for opportunities to erode that.”

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