Nicaragua severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan and re-established it with China. This is a setback for the US as China expands its influence in Latin America and isolates US ally Taiwan.
Nicaragua sent its finance minister and two sons of President Ortega to the northern Chinese city of Tianjin to ratify the agreement.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Nicaragua had made the “correct choice”. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and does not recognize it. Countries that take or are taking steps in this direction can count on Beijing’s opposition.
There are fourteen countries with which Taiwan maintains full diplomatic relations.
no democratic decision
Nicaragua’s dictator Daniel Ortega is president. He won the election last month after the arrest of the seven main opposition members. Then the US Secretary of State threatened to impose sanctions on the people around Ortega.
The United States condemns Nicaragua’s severance of relations with Taiwan. Americans say it was not a democratic decision because the Nicaraguan government did not come to power through free elections.
This is not the first time that Nicaragua has cut ties with Taiwan. This also happened in 1985 during Ortega’s first term in office. In 1990 it was restored by his successor, Barrios de Chamorro.
