Panama cuts diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establishes the same with China handing Beijing a huge victory in its bid to isolate the self-governing island.
Joint statement between President Juan Carlos Varela and Beijing says ‘Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory’
The Panamanian government said it recognised there was “only one China” and considered Taiwan part of it.
Taiwan expressed “anger and regret”, and accused Panama of “bullying”.
China has been seeking to punish Taiwan after President Tsai Ing-wen’s election victory last year.
Tsai is sceptical of closer ties to Beijing and has declined to endorse China’s view that Taiwan and the mainland are part of a single Chinese nation.
Panama is the second country to switch its recognition to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen took office last year, following a similar move by Sao Tome and Principe in December.
The island now has just 20 formal diplomatic partners.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his counterpart from Panama, Isabel de Saint Malo, in Beijing on Tuesday and signed a joint communique establishing ties.
Wang said he was sure relations between the two countries would have a “bright future”.
Saint Malo said she hoped the new relationship would lead to trade, investment and tourism opportunities, in particular “exporting more goods from Panama to China”.
Panama’s decision to dump Taiwan comes just days after Beijing began the construction of a container port, with natural gas facilities, in its northern province of Colon.
Panama did not give any reason for changing its diplomatic allegiance but there has been growing economic co-operation with China in recent years.
Chinese companies are developing ports in Panama, and Chinese state firms are said to have expressed interest in developing the land around the Panama Canal once the country opens a tender for it later this year.
The Panama Canal is a vital shipping route. As China expands its global trade ambitions with its One Belt One Road infrastructure-building initiative, access to the eastern coasts of both South America and the US is expected to be of growing importance for Beijing.
The switch by Panama leaves Taiwan with a handful of nations with whom it has diplomatic ties. They are:
- In Latin America and the Caribbean: Belize, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent & the Grenadines, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras and Saint Lucia
- In Africa: Burkina Faso and Swaziland
- In Europe: The Holy See
- In the Pacific: Kiribati, Nauru, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Palau