On Thursday morning, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it signed an agreement with Guyana on January 11 to open an office in Taiwan, effectively a de facto embassy to the island.
Beijing claims total sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located on the southeast coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded to the move by saying that Beijing expects Guyana not to engage in official ties with Taiwan, asking the country to “take serious steps to correct its mistake”.
On Thursday afternoon, just hours after China’s response, Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was revoking the agreement and that it continued to adhere to the “One China” policy.
“The government has not established diplomatic relations or relations with Taiwan and, as a result of the lack of communication of the signed agreement, it was terminated,” says the statement from Guyana.
Guyana traditionally has close ties to China. A former British colony, Guyana recently started developing offshore oil reserves and is strategically located alongside conflict-ravaged Venezuela, an important Chinese ally with which Guyana has a territorial dispute.