China, Nicaragua resume diplomatic ties

Nicaragua and China resumed diplomatic relations on Friday after the Central American nation broke its ties with Taiwan, becoming the 181st country in the world to have diplomatic ties with China.

After a meeting between Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and representative of the Nicaraguan government Laureano Ortega Murillo in Tianjin, the two countries issued a joint communique on the resumption of diplomatic relations.

The two governments agree to develop friendly relations based on the principles of mutual respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity, nonaggression, noninterference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence, the communique said.

The government of Nicaragua recognizes that there is but one China in the world, that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

The government of Nicaragua promises it will have neither official relations nor official exchanges with Taiwan, it said.

China and Nicaragua established diplomatic ties in 1985, and in 1990, Beijing ended its relations with Managua after the country switched to its relationship with Taiwan.

China welcomes and appreciates the right decision made by Nicaragua, and the time and conditions are all there for it to happen, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday in a video meeting with Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres.

After the country severed its ties with Taiwan, there are only 14 countries that still maintain the so-called "diplomatic relations" with the island.

Nations that remain Taiwan's allies do so because of money from the island and pressure from the United States, Wang told reporters after their meeting.

The US approach is nothing short of double standards, Wang said, asking what right does Washington have to block other sovereign states from making their own choices?

He said he believes that sooner or later these countries will follow the spirit of UN Resolution 2758 and establish or resume diplomatic relations with China.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that China welcomes Taiwan's few remaining so-called "diplomatic partner countries" to stand on the right side of history.

Taiwan slandered Beijing for winning its "diplomatic partners" through economic bargaining. However, the truth is that these countries made their own choices instead of being manipulated by the Chinese government, said Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies' Department of American Studies.

The resumption of China-Nicaragua relations proved that the one-China principle is universally recognized by the international community, Su said.

Such a move is a blow to the arrogance of "Taiwan independence" forces and the collusion between the US and Taiwan, and proved that the US cannot achieve its goal of supporting "Taiwan independence" separatists by playing the Taiwan card, she said.

During the talks with his counterpart from Nicaragua, Wang said China and Nicaragua should enhance mutual understanding and advance pragmatic cooperation in a stable and orderly manner, promote the steady start and long-term progress of bilateral relations and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between developing countries with different sizes and national conditions.

China welcomes Nicaragua to join in the Global Development Initiative and the joint construction of the Belt and Road, he said.

Moncada said that Nicaragua will soon carry out cooperation with China in various areas including trade, technology and people-to-people exchanges, and is willing to sign cooperation documents on the BRI as soon as possible.

Also on Friday, Vice-Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Yu Jianhua held a videoconference with Ortega and agreed to advance bilateral pragmatic trade cooperation.