Taiwan ‘feeling the squeeze’ as Nigeria tells island to close trade office
Taipei told to shut office in capital and open smaller branch in another city in a move announced as the mainland’s foreign minister was visiting West African nation
Taiwan registered a strong protest on Thursday after Nigeria ordered it to close its trade office in the nation’s capital, Abuja, as analysts observed that Taipei’s diplomatic space is shrinking under pressure from Beijing.
A statement from Taiwan’s foreign ministry accused Nigeria of collaborating with Beijing to make it look like Taipei had suffered another diplomatic setback, as the mainland attempts to limit its friends and allies overseas.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said on Wednesday that his government had ordered Taiwan to close its office in Abuja and open a smaller one with a skeleton staff in Lagos. His comments came as mainland China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was visiting the country.
The Taiwanese foreign ministry statement said: “The Republic of China [Taiwan’s official title] and Nigeria do not have diplomatic relations and what Nigeria did in collaborating with mainland China by saying that it is no longer recognising Taiwan as a country and was ending formal ties with us … is unreasonable.
“The foreign ministry seriously objects to and condemns the unreasonable actions by the Nigerian government,” it said.