The Central American country of Nicaragua and China announced on Wednesday that their bilateral relationship has been upgraded to a “strategic partnership.” The move comes two years after Nicaragua changed its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
In a joint statement, China and Nicaragua announced that a bilateral free trade agreement between the two sides would become effective on January 1, 2024. Nicaragua reiterated in the statement that Taiwan is an “inalienable part of China’s territory,” restated its opposition to “Taiwan independence” and promised not to engage in any form of official exchanges with Taiwan. Nicaragua further stated its firm support for Chinese efforts at “national unification”, and its policies in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.
Nicaragua is currently facing economic sanctions from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other European states for human rights violations.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on Wednesday saying that Taiwan had repeatedly provided aid to Nicaragua in the past. Yet, it says, current Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has shown himself to be “a willing accomplice to China’s destruction of democracy and peace,” and that “such conduct is disgraceful.”
The ministry says that Nicaragua should not blindly accommodate the Chinese government and instead pay closer attention to “damage being done to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights in its own nation.”