Taiwan’s Thinly Woven Diplomatic Web

Taiwan is reported to be monitoring a Chinese strike group off its coast, the day after the its president Tsai Ing-wen met with U.S. House speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

As Statista’s Martin Armstrong reports, in response to the meeting, China has stated publicly that it would take “resolute” measures to defend its sovereignty.

McCarthy, for his part, said after the visit that the U.S. “must continue the arms sales to Taiwan and make sure such sales reach Taiwan on a very timely basis”.

Tsai’s stopover in the States is part of a diplomatic trip to her country’s remaining allies in Central America.

With the power that China holds on the international stage, the Taiwanese government can only count on the official support of a few small states around the world.

Most recently, Honduras announced in March that it was realigning to seek diplomatic ties to China, having previously been an ally of Taiwan.

Currently, only 13 independent countries recognize the Taipei government, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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The majority are located in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Paraguay, Guatemala and Haiti. Taiwan’s other four allies are island nations in Southeast Asia, namely Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. This list is rounded off with the Kingdom of Eswatini, located in Africa, and the Vatican City State, in Europe.