Taiwan lost one of its few remaining diplomatic allies Nauru to China on Monday, just days after it elected a new president, and accused China of attempting to pressure it while affirming the will of Taiwanese to go out into the world.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taiwan strongly disputes, and the two have for years traded accusations of using “dollar diplomacy” as they compete for diplomatic recognition.
Taiwan security officials said before Saturday’s election that China was likely to continue to whittle away at the handful of countries – now down to a dozen – that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Lai Ching-te, repeatedly criticised by China before the poll as a dangerous separatist, won the election for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and will take office on May 20.
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