Taiwan and the Central American nation of Nicaragua have cut off diplomatic ties. In a statement, the Nicaraguan foreign ministry indicated that the country will now seek to establish relations with China instead.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry has expressed “pain and regret” at the move. It says that it has stopped all Taiwanese assistance to Nicaragua and all bilateral cooperation. It also says that it is closing Taiwan’s embassy in Nicaragua and recalling all Taiwanese experts who have been sent to Nicaragua to provide the country with technical assistance.
This is the second time Nicaragua has cut ties with Taiwan in favor of ties with Beijing: the last time was in 1985. Then, as now, Marxist guerrilla commander Daniel Ortega was at the helm as Nicaragua’s President. However, Nicaragua then re-established relations with Taiwan in 1990.
This latest severing of ties with Taiwan comes as the Nicaraguan government cools towards the United States, which has sought to shore up Taiwan’s diplomatic ties.
The White House has called Nicaragua’s recent presidential election, which saw President Ortega win another term, a “pantomime”. Ahead of the election, the main opposition party was disqualified and prominent opposition leaders were detained. The US has also put sanctions on one of Ortega’s advisers for allegedly running a fraud scheme.
Nicaragua’s decision to cut ties with Taiwan once again also comes as the United States and China wrangle for influence in Central America.
This wrangling most recently came into the spotlight during another presidential election, this one in the neighboring country of Honduras. The winner had pledged to cut ties with Taiwan, but now appears to be backing away from doing so. As one ally of the president-elect told Reuters, “We don’t want to fight with the United States”. China has accused the United States of “arm-twisting” in Honduras.
With Nicaragua's severing of ties, the number of countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan is down to 14.
