Taiwanese minister visits Dominican Republic to boost ties

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs is visiting the Dominican Republic to boost diplomatic ties in the region after recently losing Panama as an ally.

David Lee Tawei is scheduled to meet with Dominican officials and Taiwanese ambassadors based in Latin America and the Caribbean as part of a two-day trip that began on Monday.

Officials did not release further details about the meetings except to say Lee is scheduled to visit ongoing development projects in the Dominican Republic.

The visit comes a month after Panama broke diplomatic relations in favour of China. Taiwan has 20 remaining official allies, including 11 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Taiwan is a self-governing democracy that China has long claimed as its territory after both sides split amid civil war in 1949.