China establishes diplomatic ties with former Taiwan ally Sao Tome
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The Sao Tome and Principe national flag (second from right) flying outside the Diplomatic Quarter in Taipei, Taiwan, on Nov 18, 2013.
PHOTO: EPA
BEIJING (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, AFP) - China signed an agreement on Monday (Dec 26) establishing diplomatic relations with Sao Tome and Principe, only days after the West African nation broke ties with Taiwan.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Sao Tome counterpart, Urbino Botelho, inked a joint communique on establishing formal bilateral ties in front of a handful of invited reporters at the Diaoyutai state guest house in western Beijing.
Sao Tome and Principe, with a population of about 197,500, consists of two archipelagos that lie within 320km off the northwestern coast of Gabon. It established ties with China in 1975 only to switch to Taiwan in 1997.
"We hope more and more Chinese interests will invest in Sao Tome and Africa," said Botelho. "We hope more Chinese tourists will come visit."
For years, China and Taiwan were locked in a bitter diplomatic tug-of-war, luring away each other's allies with generous financial packages in so-called "chequebook diplomacy".
For years, China and Taiwan were locked in a bitter diplomatic tug-of-war, luring away each other's allies with generous financial packages in so-called "chequebook diplomacy".
Diplomatic tussles between the two had eased under Taiwan's previous Beijing-friendly government, but two months after President Tsai Ing-wen's China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won landslide elections in March, China recognised Taiwan's former ally Gambia.
Cross-strait tensions have been further exacerbated by a highly unusual call from President Tsai to congratulate US president-elect Donald Trump, who has questioned Washington's policy towards the island, including its decision to not formally recognise its government.
Sao Tome and Principe had sought more than US$100 million from the government in Taipei, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported last week, citing an unidentified foreign ministry official.
Taiwan has accused China of taking advantage of Sao Tome's financial woes and that Taipei will not engage in "dollar diplomacy".
Taiwan, which China considers ineligible for state-to-state relations, had as many as 30 diplomatic allies in the mid-1990s, but now has formal relations with just 21, mostly smaller and poorer nations in Latin America and the Pacific.
Tsai is preparing for a trip next month to meet diplomatic allies in Latin America, and she is expected to pass through the United States, which may irk China.
Sao Tome Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada said on Thursday that breaking relations with Taiwan was the correct decision given China's importance as a strategic partner and the need to improve the lives of Sao Tomeans.