NPR

China Lures Taiwan's Latin American Allies

Panamanian Foreign Minister Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi toast after signing a joint statement on establishing diplomatic relations in June 2017 in Beijing.

The power struggle between China and the island of Taiwan is playing out in an unlikely region — Latin America.

The biggest bloc of Taiwan's few remaining world allies is in Central America and the Caribbean. But even that solidarity is splintering.

In August, El Salvadoran President Salvador Sánchez Cerén went on national television and said the words Beijing has long worked hard around the globe to hear: "The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate representation of all of China and Taiwan forms an inalienable part of the Chinese territory," said Sánchez Cerén.

With that, El Salvador severed decades of relations with Taiwan in favor of

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR3 min read
Floods In Southern Brazil Kill At Least 75 People Over 7 Days
Massive floods in Brazil's southern Rio Grande do Sul state have killed at least 75 people over the last seven days, and another 103 were reported missing, local authorities said Sunday.
NPR2 min readCrime & Violence
Canadian Police Arrest 3 Suspects In The Slaying Of A Sikh Separatist Leader
Police said they arrested three Indian nationals in the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar last June that became the center of a diplomatic spat with India.
NPR4 min read
Last-minute Candidate José Raúl Mulino Wins Panama's Presidential Election
José Raúl Mulino was set to become the new leader of the Central American nation as authorities unofficially called the race Sunday night after his three nearest rivals conceded.

Related Books & Audiobooks