Nicaragua ends relations with Taiwan in victory for China

"The People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing all of China and Taiwan is an undoubted part of the Chinese territory," Nicaragua's Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said in a televised announcement from capital city Managua on Thursday, according to the CNN.

"The government of the Republic of Nicaragua breaks diplomatic relations with Taiwan as of today and stopped having any contact or official relationship," he said.

The Nicaraguan announcement now leaves a little more than a dozen countries that maintain official diplomatic relations with self-ruled Taiwan, including fellow Central American nations Honduras and Guatemala.

The number of countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than Beijing has shrunk rapidly in recent years as China looks to ramp up its global influence.

In 2018, El Salvador, Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic all said they would no longer recognize Taipei, followed by the Solomon Islands and Kiribati in 2019.

And Nicaragua might not be the last nation to switch from Taiwan to China in 2021 either.

Under President Xi, relations between Taipei and Beijing have deteriorated to levels not seen in decades. In October, China's military sent a record number of warplanes into the air around the island, amid threats of further military action. Meanwhile, the United States -- which switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 -- has sought to bolster Taiwan on the world stage with large arms sales and high-profile visits by American officials.

Thursday's announcement leaves Taiwan with just 14 diplomatic allies, mostly small nations in the Caribbean and the Pacific, as well as the Vatican.

KI/PR