Taiwan withdraws from Central American Parliament after vote in favour of Beijing

Taiwan has withdrawn from the Central American Parliament after the six-member body voted to oust Taipei so that Beijing can take its place as a permanent observer.

The parliament, known as Parlacen, voted on the proposal to revoke Taiwan’s observer status – which it had held since 1999 – during a meeting in the Nicaraguan capital Managua on August 21, South China Morning Post reports.

There were 73 in favour, 32 against and nine abstained from the vote. Parlacen comprises Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega – also a deputy speaker of the parliament – put forward the proposal in June. It called for Taipei to be expelled and replaced with Beijing, citing a 1971 UN resolution that regarded Taiwan as a province of China with no right to participate as “an independent country”.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control. Most countries do not see Taiwan as an independent state, but many are opposed to a change of the status quo by force.

With just 13 official allies remaining, the Parlacen vote is the latest setback for Taiwan in a long diplomatic tussle with Beijing.

It prompted Taiwan on Tuesday to announce its withdrawal from Parlacen “with immediate effect” to “uphold our national sovereignty and dignity”.

“Nicaraguan parliamentary caucus and some pro-[Beijing] deputies bow to the conspiracy of China in expelling us, ignoring our long-time contributions to the parliament and the integration and development of the Central American region,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It accused Ortega of “degenerating himself as China’s pawn and erroneously using the so-called one-China principle in the UN resolution … to seize our rights in Parlacen”.

The ministry also said Beijing’s “barbarian and unreasonable” acts would not stop Taiwan from expanding its international presence.

Tsai Shih-ying, a lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, called it a “ridiculous” move for Parlacen to replace Taipei with Beijing.

Analysts said the outcome of the vote was not surprising.

“Guatemala is the only member which maintains official ties with Taiwan … the rest all recognise Beijing instead of Taipei,” said Wang Kung-yi, head of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society, a Taipei think tank.

Huang Kwei-bo, a professor of diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Taipei, warned of a possible domino effect.

“The next battleground will be the Central American Integration System as Taiwan only has two allies in that regional body – Belize and Guatemala,” he said.

Known as Sica, it is the economic and political body for Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Huang said that as Beijing’s influence expands in Central America, Taiwan should also be wary about its status at the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).

“Though Taiwan is a big shareholder in CABEI, who knows if its status in the banking system will be affected,” Huang said.

He was referring to Taiwan being forced to change its official title at the Asian Development Bank to “Taipei, China” after Beijing joined in 1986. Taiwan was a founding member of the ADB when it was established in 1966.

Taiwanese foreign ministry spokesman Jeff Liu said the island’s withdrawal from Parlacen would not affect its status in Sica or CABEI.

The finance ministry also said CABEI was not related to Parlacen and it would not have any influence on Taiwan’s rights and membership at CABEI.