El Salvador breaks diplomatic ties with Taiwan to establish relations with China

El Salvador’s President Salvador Sanchez Ceren has said in a nationally televised speech that his government has broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and instead established new diplomatic ties with China, Reuters reports. Taiwan now has formal relations with only 17 countries worldwide, many of them small, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific. President Tsai Ing-wen said in Taipei that Taiwan would not bow to pressure, describing El Salvador’s decision as further evidence of China’s efforts “to squeeze the island.” Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said earlier that Taipei was not willing to engage in “money competition” with Beijing. The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councilor Wang Yi, said El Salvador had made the right decision.