BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2019) The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday welcomed the Solomon Islands' decision to terminate its ties with Taiwan and establish diplomatic relations with Beijing.
On Monday, the Pacific island nation's government voted to break ties with Taiwan and switch to diplomatic relations with China.
"The Chinese side highly appreciates the decision of the government of the Solomon Islands to recognize the 'One China policy,' sever so-called diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish diplomatic relations with China," the ministry's spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said in a statement.
She also described this move as an important decision made by an independent sovereign state.
Taiwan has been governed independently from China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province as part of "One China" policy, while Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous country and has political and economic relations with several other nations that recognize its sovereignty.
Over the past year and a half, several countries have severed ties with Taiwan and switched to diplomatic relations with Beijing, including El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso and Panama.
