China reopens embassy in Nicaragua after it cut ties with Taiwan

China shut its embassy in Nicaragua after the country recognised Taiwan in 1990

China has reopened its embassy in Nicaragua just weeks after president Daniel Ortega’s government cut ties with Taiwan.

The embassy, first shut down in 1990, was reopened in Nicaragua’s capital Managua after the two countries resumed diplomatic relations on Friday.

A ceremony was held in Managua to mark the renewal of ties, and it was attended by Yu Bo, a representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Nicaraguan foreign minister Denis Moncada, reported Xinhua news agency.

The “one-China principle” is the consensus of the international community and a universally recognised norm governing international relations, Mr Yu said in his speech at the ceremony. He added that it showed an overriding trend that “represents international justice and enjoys popular support”.

Mr Moncada said that the two countries had entered a new phase of diplomacy. He added that there was an “ideological affinity” between the two countries and thanked China for donating 1 million doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, reported the Associated Press.

While Mr Ortega had established relations with China in 1985, Nicaragua recognised Taiwan after he lost the election in 1990. He returned to power in 2007 and has been president since then.

Last week, the Nicaraguan government seized Taiwan’s embassy and other diplomatic offices saying that they belonged to China. Mr Ortega’s government broke relations with Taiwan on 9 December and said that it would officially recognise China.

Taiwan condemned the actions and said that it had violated standard procedures by giving diplomatic officials from Taiwan only two weeks to leave the country. Taiwan’s foreign relations ministry called the Nicaraguan government’s actions “gravely illegal actions”.

China and Taiwan split after a civil war in 1949. While Taiwan claims that it is an independent democratic country, Beijing claims that it is a part of its territory. China is also against Taiwan representing itself on global forums and has been moving to poach its allies to cut ties with the island nation.

With the ties with Nicaragua broken, Taiwan now only has 14 diplomatic allies.