Taiwan loses second ally in a month

OUAGADOUGOU/TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan lost its second diplomatic ally in less than a month on Thursday when Burkina Faso said it had cut ties with the self-ruled island, following intense Chinese pressure on African countries to break with what it regards as a wayward province.

Taiwan now has only one diplomatic ally left in Africa – the tiny kingdom of Swaziland – and formal relations with just 18 countries worldwide, many of them poor nations in Central America and the Pacific like Belize and Nauru.

The Burkina Foreign Ministry’s statement made no direct mention of China, but said “the evolution of the world and the socioeconomic challenges of our country and region push us to reconsider our position.”

Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference in Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan would not engage in “dollar diplomacy” and denounced Beijing’s methods.

“China toys with dollar diplomacy and promises huge sums of money to entice many countries to build relations,” Tsai said.

“I want to emphasize again that China’s pressure will only lead to Taiwan’s ties with its partners in the international community getting closer. We will not cower at all.”

Taiwan has accused China of luring its friends away with offers of generous aid packages. China denies this, and says Taiwan is a part of China with no right to formal diplomatic ties with any other country.

China’s Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement it welcomed Burkina to “join in China-Africa friendly cooperation as soon as possible.”