It was a move seemingly designed to humiliate Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen.
Tsai had just a day earlier concluded an overseas trip that took her to two of the remaining countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the democratic island, Paraguay and Belize. (Tsai had also made a stopover in California, but in keeping with tradition stayed far away from Washington.) But before she could even begin to shake off her jetlag, the announcement came down: El Salvador was cutting off relations with Taiwan. The Central American nation will, going forward, maintain diplomatic ties with Beijing instead.
El Salvador, an impoverished, tiny nation of a mere six and a half million people may not seem an important diplomatic ally by any standard. But the list of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, who recognize Taipei as the capital of “One China,” is rapidly dwindling. At this point, a mere seventeen countries maintain relations with Taipei, and several of these are tiny South Pacific islands. (No offense, Tuvalu.) The lion’s share of the rest are either small Central, South American, or African countries. Vatican City, meanwhile, remains Taiwan’s sole foothold in Europe. And Taiwan does not even enjoy observer status at the United Nations.
El Salvador did not suddenly become convinced of the profound wisdom of “Xi Jinping thought” or “capitalism with Chinese characteristics.” Beijing simply cut a check. According to sources familiar with what transpired in the run up to the shift, El Salvador appealed to Taiwan for financial help in constructing a massive new seaport on its Pacific coast. Taipei said the project was economically unfeasible.
Beijing, on the other hand, apparently said “sure!” In his speech announcing the move, El Salvador’s president basically made this explicit: He alluded to the “extraordinary opportunities” switching embassy locations would bring. Bribing El Salvador to abandon Taiwan is part of Beijing’s larger strategy to isolate the island. Indeed, it’s the third country this year alone that has been compelled to switch because of a Publishers Clearinghouse-style fat check. Until El Salvador’s move, Burkina Faso had been the most recent, back in May.
China despises Tsai Ing-wen, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, which has long pushed for Taiwanese independence. That Tsai herself has disavowed the independence movement has not cooled Beijing’s hostility, which has manifested itself through frequent military exercises around the island and a quasi-economic blockade. Isolating Taiwan diplomatically is another way to punish the Taiwanese people for having the temerity to pick a president of their choosing.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, President Tsai said that, “The force of China’s offensive against Taiwan sovereignty is unprecedented.” (Note that Tsai refers throughout the document to Taiwan as well, Taiwan, and not China, indicating that she herself rejects the “One China” policy.) But as the residents of Tibet and Xinjiang can attest, it is, alas, hardly unprecedented at all.
