Fifty-three percent of people in Taiwan believe that Beijing pressured Nicaragua to break ties with Taiwan. That's according to a survey released on Monday by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association. Nicaragua broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing last Friday.
Nicaragua's move came on the first day of the US' Summit for Democracy, which Taiwan attended. According to the survey, almost 70% of respondents believe that China was not invited to attend the summit because it is a communist nation with a poor human rights record.
National Quemoy University in Kinmen Associate Professor Lu Cheng-feng says that Nicaragua's decision came at a sensitive time. He says that Nicaragua sided with China at a time when the world is reevaluating its relationship with Beijing. Lu says the people of Taiwan need to stand together and support their country now more than ever.
The survey also said 46% of respondents support growing international calls to diplomatically boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Cross-Strait Policy Association Researcher Wu Se-chih says that, as a democracy, Taiwan needs to make it clear to Beijing that it does not tolerate China's human rights violations and military intimidation.