(MENAFNEditorial) TAIPEI, Taiwan — The West African nation of Burkina Faso announced on Thursday that it was ending official diplomatic relations with Taiwan's government, a new challenge to the self-governing democracy as Beijing increasingly tries to isolate it on the global stage.
The break leaves Taiwan with only one diplomatic ally in Africa — the small kingdom of Swaziland — and formal relations worldwide with 17 other countries, most of them poorer nations in Central America and the Pacific, along with the Vatican.
'The evolution of the world and the defined socio-economic challenges of our region required us to reconsider our position,' the Burkina Faso foreign affairs minister, Alpha Barry, said in a statement .
He made no direct mention of China, whose increasing economic clout and geopolitical influence have made it difficult for countries to remain aligned with Taiwan.
Speaking at a hastily arranged news conference in Taipei, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that Burkina Faso's decision had caused 'sadness, anger, and regret' in Taiwan.
He had more pointed words for Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory under its 'One China' principle but has never ruled it and has long refused to have diplomatic relations with any country that officially recognizes Taiwan.
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