Diplomatic disputes hide pettiness and savagery

For once, Taiwan stands alone against Washington’s favourite bêtes noires, China and Nicaragua, without Uncle Sam coming to its aid. The island has accused Nicaragua of defying international laws and protocols by confiscating its former embassy compound and other assets, and then handing them over to mainland China after switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Ordinarily, you can expect the United States and its faithful allies such as Britain to join the fray and denounce the “theft”. However, Britain has been using the same playbook as Managua, except on a much grander scale. To come to Taipei’s rescue now would invite international ridicule.

The British Supreme Court has just ruled that its government can continue to freeze 31 tons of gold worth about US$1.7 billion that Venezuela has deposited with the Bank of England.

The British government wants to hand over the state assets to Juan Guaido, whom London and Washington continue to recognise as the true head of state of Venezuela against current socialist President Nicolas Maduro following an election and its disputed results in 2018-19. This is despite the dwindling number of countries that still recognise Guaido. Since the start of this year, the European Union no longer recognises him.

Britain’s highest court ruled that it was bound by the “one voice principle”, according to which the executive branch has sole prerogative to recognise foreign heads of state.

Of course, Managua could argue the same based on the one-China principle by which it has switched recognition to the central government in Beijing. By right and law then, the former assets of Taiwan in Nicaragua now belong to mainland China, regardless of Taipei’s previous arrangement to donate them to the Catholic Church in the country.

But the Nicaraguan dispute is a diplomatic storm in a teacup, which is down to sheer pettiness among antagonistic governments. The Venezuelan gold case cuts to the heart of the merciless Western sanctions led by Washington that have led to terrible sufferings for ordinary people in Venezuela, made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The United Nations and various human rights groups have repeatedly criticised the US-led sanctions and their inhumane effects on the general Venezuelan populace. Washington, however, is determined to toughen the stranglehold, including extraditing Maduro’s go-to troubleshooter Alex Saab, who had been working around the sanctions to supply food, fuel and medicine to the country.

The sanctions have been sheer vindictive savagery.