Panama drops Taiwan in favour of China
PANAMA has switched its diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China, indicating that Beijing’s economic muscle is forcing the dwindling number of countries who align with Taipei to bend to its will.
Only 20 countries, including the Vatican, continue to recognise Taiwan diplomatically, a stance in defiance of Beijing and its “one China” policy.
A joint statement from China and Panama issued yesterday said they had “decided to grant each other, from the date of this document’s signing, mutual recognition, establishment of diplomatic ties at the ambassadorial level”.
Panama had said that it held only economic ties with Beijing, but diplomatic relations with Taipei. It now “recognises that there is only one China in the world” and that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, met his counterpart from Panama, Isabel de Saint Malo, in Beijing yesterday and signed a joint communiqué establishing ties, taking effect immediately.
The announcement is a diplomatic coup for China, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province which will one day be reunited to the mainland – by force if necessary.
The self-ruled island had diplomatic relations with as many as 30 countries in the mid-nineties.
Taiwan’s government expressed its anger over the move, saying it would not compete with China in what it described as a “diplomatic money game”.
Beijing recently began constructing a container port in Panama. China is the second-most important user of Panama’s shipping canal.