TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan broke off diplomatic ties with El Salvador on Tuesday as the Central American country defected to rival Beijing in the latest blow to the self-ruled island China has been trying to isolate on the global stage. El Salvador's Foreign Minister Carlos Castaneda stands as his country's national anthem is played at a signing ceremony to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between El Salvador and China at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018. El Salvador is the fifth country Taiwan will lose as a diplomatic ally since Tsai came to office in 2016, following Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome and Principe and Panama. Taiwan's foreign minister Joseph Wu said Taipei "will not engage in dollar diplomacy with China", adding that El Salvador had been asking for "huge funding" for a port development project, which Taiwan was unwilling to give because it would leave both countries in debt. "I'm confident that the people of El Salvador will feel the warmth and friendship of the Chinese people and derive tangible benefits from its cooperation with China," Wang told reporters alongside his El Salvador counterpart Carlos Castaneda, shortly after the pair signed an agreement establishing ties.
El Salvador severs diplomatic relations with Taiwan, opting to instead establish ties with China.