Sino File | Dominican Republic’s switch from Taipei to Beijing is an empty victory – with a cost
Official diplomatic recognition is largely beside the point to Taiwan. Beijing’s moves to wrest away Taipei’s allies with economic carrots serve little purpose other than to sabotage its own hopes of reunification
But in fact, there is no real winner in this diplomatic war. This was an empty victory bought with cold hard cash and one that will be paid for by taxpayers on both sides of the strait.
The cross-strait diplomatic war began in 1971 when Taipei lost its permanent seat at the UN Security Council to Beijing. Soon after, and following US president Richard Nixon’s ice-breaking trip to China in 1972, many nations scrambled to switch their diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
But since the 1990s, both have been trying to hold or gain the good graces of a few dozen developing nations that still recognise Taipei, by dangling generous economic carrots.
The Dominican Republic is just the latest of dozens of nations to have switched to Beijing’s side. In this case the move is seemingly related to a US$3.1 billion package of investments and loans, despite Beijing’s denial of any economic preconditions.