Re-elect President Tsai Ing-wen in 2020 and Taiwan will lose all its allies, Beijing warns
- Warning comes as Solomon Islands becomes the sixth country to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei
- US can’t help settle cross-strait issues at the core of deteriorating relationship, former Taiwanese leader says
Beijing has warned Taipei that it will lose all of its diplomatic allies if Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is re-elected in 2020.
The article blamed Tsai and her independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party for the chill in relations between Taiwan and mainland China.
“As long as the DPP is in power, sooner or later Taiwan will have zero diplomatic allies left,” it said. “Only by first improving cross-strait mutual trust can Taiwan open up its ‘international space’. If the Tsai administration still refuses to come to its senses, then there will only be more ‘diplomatic crises’ to come.”
After a month of deliberation, the Solomon Islands, Taiwan’s biggest ally in the Pacific, ended 36 years of diplomatic relations with Taipei on Monday, leaving Taiwan with 16 formal allies.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that by recognising Beijing the Solomons would have unprecedented development opportunities.