US Department of State on Thursday called on “all countries with democratic institutions” to expand relations with Taiwan.
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Such a statement was issued by the United States after Nicaragua announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Taiwan in the interests of China.
The US State Department stressed that the decision of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega “cannot reflect the will of the Nicaraguan people” because of the recent presidential election in the Central American country.
“The Ortega-Murillo regime has announced the cessation of diplomatic relations and official contacts with Taiwan, even though it did not receive a mandate to separate Nicaragua from the American family of democracies in a fraudulent election on November 7,” the US State Department said in a statement.
“It deprives the people of Nicaragua of a stable partner for democracy and economic growth,” it reads.
“We urge all countries where democratic institutions, transparency, the rule of law and the promotion of the well-being of their people have value to expand relations with Taiwan,” he said.
Nearly 40 opposition politicians, including seven presidential candidates, were arrested by Nicaraguan authorities in the run-up to the November elections, virtually guaranteeing the re-election of Ortega as president and vice president Rosario Murillo.
Nicaragua ‘s decision to withdraw diplomatically from Taiwanto build closer relations with China means that the island has only 14 diplomatic allies left.
This is a diplomatic success for China, which is trying to maintain Taiwan’s political isolation at a time when Taipei is strengthening ties with Western allies such as the United States.
In 1949, when the government of the Republic of China lost to the Communists in the Civil War and fled to the island of Taiwan, “de facto” two Chinese nations emerged.
Communist China called itself the People ‘s Republic of China, but the Chinese nationalist government in Taiwan continued to call itself the Republic of China.
China still considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has declared the goal of recovering the lost island.
China has intensified diplomatic, military and economic pressure on Taiwan since Cai Invina, who was skeptical of Beijing, took over as president in Taiwan in 2016.
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