The Dominican Republic in a change in foreign policy cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan to establish exclusive ties with China, reports the BBC.
In a statement made after the decision, the Dominican Republic said it ”recognises that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.”
The administration added that the decision would be “extraordinarily positive for the future of our country.”
Responding to the decision, Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph WU said his ministry “strongly condemns China’s objectionable decision to use dollar diplomacy to convert Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.”
Taiwan has 19 diplomatic allies 10 of whom are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mainland China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, when the defeated nationalist government fled to the island.
