Beijing poaches another diplomatic ally of Taiwan days after its presidential election

View In Browser  Nectar Gan, Eric Cheung and Wayne Chang Beijing poaches another diplomatic ally of Taiwan days after its presidential election Taiwan has lost another diplomatic ally to China just days after its presidential election in what Taipei said was both sudden and designed by Beijing to suppress the island's "democratic achievements."   The Pacific Island nation of Nauru on Monday announced it had severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan and established ties with China, a decision confirmed by Taiwan's Foreign Ministry.   The move is the latest blow to Taiwan's efforts to retain its dwindling number of diplomatic allies, and comes just two days after Taiwan's voters defied China's threats to elect a new president loathed by Beijing.   Lai Ching-te, the current vice president and a staunch defender of Taiwan's distinct identity and sovereignty, won the presidential election on Saturday, handing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a historic third straight term.   Beijing had repeatedly warned Taiwan's voters that his election would increase the risk of conflict.   China's ruling Communist Party views Taiwan as its own territory, despite having never controlled it, and has ramped up diplomatic pressure on Taipei in recent years, including by poaching its allies.   During the DPP's eight years in power, Taiwan has lost 10 diplomatic allies to China.   On Monday, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry condemned China in "the strongest possible terms" for Nauru's diplomatic switch, which it said came at "a key moment" following the presidential election.   "China's move is to suppress Taiwan's democratic achievements," Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang told reporters.   Tien added that the severance of ties was a "very sudden move" by the Nauru government, which had congratulated Lai's presidential victory over the weekend.   Tien said Taiwan will immediately suspend all official interactions with Nauru "to defend national dignity," including closing its embassy and asking the Pacific Island nation to close its embassy in Taiwan.   Tien also claimed that Taiwan's Foreign Ministry had received information that Chinese officials had courted politicians in Nauru with offers of economic assistance.   He refused to put a figure on the alleged inducement, but said it was "beyond what we are able to assist our diplomatic allies with."   In a regular news briefing Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not divulge whether Beijing had pledged financial aid to Nauru. "It is Nauru's right decision made on its own volition as an independent sovereign nation," to make the diplomatic switch, spokesperson Mao Ning said.   This is the second time Nauru has severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Pacific Island country first cut ties in 2002, followed by a resumption in 2005.   The Nauru government said its resumption of diplomatic relations with China was "in the best interests" of the country and its people.   Nauru's switch of allegiance leaves Taiwan with only 12 diplomatic allies, mostly small nations in the Pacific Ocean and Latin America, and the Vatican.   More on China's poaching of Taiwan's allies: Honduras establishes diplomatic ties with China, severs them with Taiwan China thinks it's diplomatically isolating Taiwan. It isn't Bargain hunters More than four years after Costco's first store in the country caused a stir, shoppers in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen this week flocked to the US retailer's latest outlet on Chinese shores.   Costco unveiled its new 44,500-square-meter (480,000 sq ft) store in the city often dubbed China's "Silicon Valley" on Friday, drawing large crowds in search of bargains and imported products.   It's the US retailer's sixth store in the world's second biggest economy, but its first foray along the southern coast of the country, which is home to the headquarters of Chinese tech giants like Tencent and DJI and a rapidly growing middle class.    Among the more popular products on offer at the Costco opening were discounted fruits, such as cherries and berries, and the Chinese spirit Moutai, according to shoppers who spoke to CNN. Many had waited in line for more than an hour to get in.   Read more about the shopping craze. Who is Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's new President? Lai Ching-te, a former doctor from a poor mining family, was propelled into politics by a military crisis in the Taiwan Strait 27 years ago.   Now, the soft-spoken political veteran is tasked with preventing another one from happening as the newly elected leader of the self-ruled island that China's Communist Party has vowed to one day absorb.   On Saturday, Lai, 64, won a widely watched election to become Taiwan's next president, delivering a snub to years of growing threats from Taiwan's much-larger authoritarian neighbor, China.   "The election has shown the world the commitment of the Taiwanese people to democracy, which I hope China can understand," Lai told thousands of jubilant supporters at a rally after his win.   Lai, who has long faced Beijing's wrath for championing Taiwan's sovereignty, said as president he has "an important responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," pledging to pursue dialogue with China under the principles of dignity and parity.   "At the same time, we're also determined to safeguard Taiwan from continuing threats and intimidation from China," he told reporters ahead of his victory speech.   Under leader Xi Jinping, China's most assertive leader in a generation, Beijing has ramped up diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan, which it views as its own territory to be seized by force if necessary.   Tensions across the Taiwan Strait are at their highest since 1996, when China fired missiles into waters off Taiwan's coast to intimidate voters ahead of the island's first free presidential election – after the nascent democracy emerged from decades of its own authoritarian rule.   For Lai, then a fresh-faced doctor at a university hospital in the southern city of Tainan, that missile crisis became his "defining moment."   "I decided I had a duty to participate in Taiwan's democracy and help protect this fledgling experiment from those who wished it harm," he wrote in The Wall Street Journal last year.   Lai hung up his white coat to run for office – first becoming a legislator, then a popular two-term mayor of Tainan, before serving as the premier and – since 2020 – the vice president of incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen.   The doctor-turned politician has now broken the "eight-year curse" of Taiwan politics – a popular term nodding to the fact that, until Lai's victory, no political party had ever stayed in power for more than two terms since Taiwan became a democracy.   Read more about Lai's upbringing.   —From CNN's Nectar Gan Around the region   Life in the tiny oil-rich kingdom of Brunei came to a standstill Sunday for a grand royal wedding attended by heads of state and visiting overseas royals, the highlight of 10 days of celebrations. Two journalists imprisoned in Iran following their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests in 2022, have been temporarily released on bail, according to state-run media. Last letters from young kamikaze pilots provide rare insights into Japan's feared special attack unit. What did you think of today's email? Send us feedback: meanwhileinchina@cnn.com MEANWHILE IN CHINA You are receiving this newsletter because you're subscribed to Meanwhile in China.   No longer want to receive this newsletter? Unsubscribe. Interested in more? See all of our newsletters.   Create CNN Account | Listen to CNN Audio | Download the CNN App    ® © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved. One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303