China mount pressure on Nigeria over Taiwan

China’s influence in Africa is growing because of increased trade

China has been putting pressure on Nigeria and four other countries to get Taiwan to rename its representative offices to avoid suggesting sovereignty, Taiwan’s foreign ministry has said in a statement.

The pressure on Nigeria, Bahrain, Ecuador, Jordan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) came after Panama decided to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan and to recognise China and its “One China” policy.

“China is acting to suppress us in an impertinent way that has seriously offended the sensibilities of Taiwan’s people,” the statement said.

In Nigeria, the offices are called “Trade Mission of the ROC (Taiwan)”, in Bahrain the “Trade Mission of Taiwan,” in the UAE the “Commercial office of Taipei and in Ecuador and Jordan the “Commercial Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan)”.

It was still unclear what changes Beijing was pushing for but it opposes references to both Taiwan and the Republic of China, the Taiwan News reported.

It quoted foreign affairs official Antonio Chen as saying that Nigeria’s, Bahrain’s and Ecuador’s “resistance was not strong.”

In January 2017, Taiwan objected an “unreasonable” Nigerian request to move its representative office out of the capital Abuja, a day after China announced plans to invest a further $40 billion in the African country.

The protest highlighted Taiwan’s frustration with Beijing’s use of diplomatic and economic power to isolate it internationally.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it had been asked to move the office, which handles business affairs, to the former capital Lagos.

It urged Nigeria to reconsider, saying: “The foreign ministry seriously objects and condemns the unreasonable actions by the Nigerian government.”

Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province, ineligible for state-to-state relations and to be taken back by force if necessary.

The sensitivity of the issue was underlined last month when China protested after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump accepted a congratulatory phone call from the president of the island.