Taiwan is currently maintaining formal diplomatic relations with 22 countries around the world. Except for the Holy See in Europe, the rest of them are in Africa, East Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.
While the number is fairly small, according to Foreign Minister David Lin, they are vital to Taiwan’s sovereignty regardless of the size of their territory. That’s because their diplomatic recognition is in a nod to Taiwan’s independent sovereignty. Furthermore, their support for Taiwan at venues like the General Assembly of the United Nations has helped raise Taiwan’s profile in the international community.
Most nations, adhering to their “one China” policy, have maintained formal diplomatic ties with China, which puts Taiwan in a rather difficult situation. Lin however dismissed what a critic said: nearly all allies are interested in switching diplomatic recognition to China. But he did admit that some have “illusions” about that.
Of the three African allies, ties with Swaziland and Burkina Faso are strong and will remain unchanged. However, a foreign ministry official said on Monday that while relations with Sao Tome and Principe are stable for the coming year, there are uncertainties about the future.
President Ma Ying-jeou said the resumption of diplomatic ties between the Gambia and China does not affect Taiwan’s ties with its existing 22 allies. Ma however expressed his “strong dissatisfaction” with China as the timing, he said, was a disadvantage to the long-standing mutual trust built between the two sides over the past few years.
It is generally believed that China’s moves to forge ties with the Gambia were aimed at putting pressure on president-elect Tsai Ing-wen who is set to take office on May 20th. Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are considered less friendly to China than President Ma’s administration though a Chinese official denied that the moves were targeted at anyone.