Notes from Central Taiwan: As allies fall, Taiwan rises

In 2013 Gambia, then ruled by dictator Yahya Jammeh, broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Badly in need of funds, it had declared itself an Islamic Republic in the hope of prying some cash out of Saudi Arabia and Iran, rivals for influence in the Islamic world. Apparently Jammeh thought he could get some money out of China if he dumped Taiwan.
Unfortunately for him, China waited until March of 2016 to establish relations with Gambia. With only a few months left in the two-term presidency of the pro-China Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), for many in the media, Beijing could only

Related Keywords

Australia ,Taiwan ,Japan ,United States ,Tianjin ,China ,Iran ,Washington ,Beijing ,Taipei ,T Ai Pei ,Republic Of China ,Taiwan General ,Nicaragua ,Gambia ,Kenya ,Zhaoxu ,Jiangsu ,Saudi Arabia ,Lithuania ,France ,Australian ,French ,Chinese ,Nicaraguan ,Taiwanese ,Yahya Jammeh ,Ma Ying Jeou ,Daniel Ortega ,Laureano Ortega Murillo ,Peter Dutton ,Eric Chu ,Chinese Nationalist Party ,Twitter ,Cnn ,Reuters ,Kentucky University ,People Daily ,Democratic Progressive Party ,Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu ,Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation ,French National Assembly ,Central Taiwan ,Michael Turton ,Islamic Republic ,China Ma Ying Jeou ,Tsai Ing Wen ,Francois De Rugy ,Ortega Murillo ,Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega ,Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu ,International Space Expanding ,Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton ,Chen Shui Bian ,Timothy Rich ,Western Kentucky University ,Public Opinion Foundation ,台北時報 ,The Taipei Times ,