(Bloomberg) — Nicaragua broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan on Thursday and recognized China, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
Nicaragua had been one of 15 remaining countries, mostly around the Caribbean, with full official diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than with Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory.
“The government of the Republic of Nicaragua recognizes that there is only one, single China in the world,” Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said in a statement, according to state-run newspaper El 19. “The People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.”
Taiwan reciprocated the move Friday, severing formal relations with Nicaragua “to protect national dignity,” and expressed its regret at the loss of one of its few remaining official diplomatic allies.
“Taiwan has always been a loyal and reliable friend of Nicaragua,” Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We profoundly regret that the government of President Ortega has disregarded this longstanding friendship between the people of Nicaragua and Taiwan.”
The government of President Daniel Ortega has grown increasingly isolated on the international stage in recent years. Ortega’s government last month said it would withdraw from the Organization of American States, following criticism of its presidential election.
Twenty-five OAS member nations this week voted to invoke the organization’s democratic charter over Nicaragua, which is used to react to an interruption of constitutional democracy in a member state.
The U.S. and the European Union denounced last month’s election as a sham after seven opposition candidates were jailed or placed under house arrest, and international monitors were barred. Security forces detained politicians, journalists and civil society leaders under a draconian “anti-treason” law passed last year.
Honduras’s President-elect Xiomara Castro has floated the idea of switching to Beijing, though advisers have said this isn’t a done deal and local business groups have expressed concerns over the idea, which need to be taken into account.
(Updated with Taiwan’s response in fourth and fifth paragraphs.)
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