Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Sunday lashed out at China, accusing it of trying to undermine Taipei one day after his independence-leaning party took a beating at the polls.
China shows no signs that it will ease its military threats, diplomatic suppression and two-handed economic strategy on Taiwan, Chen said before heading on a week-long mission to Guatemala and St Lucia.
China is intensifying its dollar diplomacy attacks on Taiwan and using all means possible to take away our allies. We cannot sit back passively… we have to step out for the international community to see Taiwan.
Africa, Latin America and the Pacific are the main diplomatic battlegrounds for Taiwan and China, which have accused each other of luring allies away with chequebook diplomacy.
Guatemala and St Lucia are two of the 24 countries that recognise Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of its territory awaiting reunification — by force if necessary. The two split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
Chen is to attend the inauguration of Guatemala’s president-elect Alvaro Colom before heading to the tiny Caribbean state of St Lucia, which restored diplomatic ties with Taipei last year. He is to return to Taiwan on Friday.
The timing of his departure has led some observers to charge that he is trying to avoid the fallout from his party’s crushing defeat at the polls at the hands of the opposition nationalists, who favour better ties with China.
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