China erodes Taiwan’s sovereign claims
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s loss of another diplomatic ally to China is the latest strike in a multi-pronged effort to isolate the island, undermine its claims to sovereignty, and render it invisible on the global stage.
As Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen refuses to bend to Beijing’s demand that she recognise the island as part of “One China “, the Chinese government has stepped up its campaign to shrink its status.
Major international businesses including airlines and hotels have recently caved in to pressure to list Taiwan as part of China on their websites.
Taiwan has also been shut out of numerous high-profile global forums at Beijing’s request and China has stepped up military drills around the self-ruled island.
El Salvador’s President Sanchez Ceren said its decision Tuesday to switch ties from Taipei to Beijing was part of the “inevitable trends of our day”, while Taiwan accused China of using dollar diplomacy to lure away its supporters.
Taiwan now has only 17 official diplomatic allies, the vast majority of them small economies in the Pacific, Caribbean and Central America.
About five have jumped ship since Tsai took power in 2016, with three this year alone.
The allies may not punch much weight internationally, but chipping away at them has deep significance for Taiwan as it strives to hold on to any formal recognition of its legitimacy.
Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign country and has its own democratic political system, laws and currency.
However, Beijing considers it a stray province to be brought back into the fold, by force if necessary, with President Xi Jinping repeatedly underscoring the importance of territorial integrity to China’s resurgence.
“If (Taiwan) is completely unrecognized I believe Beijing’s calculation is that it will be easier to delegitimize the government in Taipei and prime demoralized Taiwanese and international society for unification,” said Jonathan Sullivan, Director of China Programs at the University of Nottingham.
Wooing El Salvador was also a warning shot to the United States, said Fan Shih-ping, a political analyst at National Taiwan Normal University.
The US is Taiwan’s most important informal ally and major arms supplier, despite having switched official diplomatic ties to Beijing in 1979.
AFP
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