China steps up Taiwan isolation after election, peeling off ally Nauru

One of Taiwan’s last diplomatic allies severed relations with the island and switched its alliance to China, after the global chip hub elected a new leader Beijing views as “separatist.”

The government of Nauru, a tiny Pacific Island of 13,000 people, announced it will cut “diplomatic relations with Taiwan as of this day,” in a statement posted to its official Facebook page on Monday. It also vowed to stop developing “official exchanges with Taiwan.”

“This is retaliation for democratic values and a blatant challenge to the international order,” Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang said at briefing in Taipei, adding that the self-ruled island was also officially cutting ties.