China’s bullying is only firing Taiwanese defiance 

Panama sought ties with China almost a decade ago but was rebuffed because Beijing had agreed a diplomatic truce with Taiwan’s president at the time, Ma Ying-jeou. Ma’s presidency lasted from 2008 to 2016, during which time China rejected all overtures from third countries.
In 2007, before Ma, of the nationalist Kuomintang party, became president, China won over Panama’s neighbour Costa Rica, reportedly by buying US$300 million worth of Costa Rican bonds. As soon as Ma assumed office, however, and recognised the one-China principle reflected in the so-called “1992 Consensus” China scrupulously adhered to the diplomatic truce.
It even agreed to expand Taiwan’s international space, arranging for the island to attend meetings of the World Health Assembly and other United Nations organisations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation. But after Ma was succeeded as president by Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, such participation ended because of Beijing’s opposition.
China refused other diplomatic opportunities during the Ma presidency, for instance spurning El Salvador’s offer to break with Taipei and establish official ties with Beijing.
Today, El Salvador is still in the Taiwan camp.
Even when Gambia broke ties with Taiwan in 2013, China declined to respond for three years. It wasn’t until after Tsai’s election as president in 2016 that China announced the establishment of relations with the West African country.
Tsai had announced before the election that she would maintain the cross-straits status quo and, since becoming president, has not adopted pro-independence policies. However, she refuses to accept the 1992 Consensus, under which both Taiwan and the mainland acknowledged that each was part of “one China” but allowed each side to claim sovereignty. Tsai’s stance prompted Beijing to end the diplomatic truce.
Given that several countries had wanted to break ties with Taiwan during the Ma presidency, some will likely resume that effort now there is a change in Chinese policy. The number of countries that recognise Taiwan will almost certainly dwindle further, but the impact will be more political than practical since most are small and impoverished. Taiwan continues to maintain substantive ties with major countries, including the United States and Japan, with which it doesn’t have diplomatic relations.
Not only is China squeezing the number of countries that recognise Taiwan, it is also insisting that non-governmental relations with Taiwan be tightened.
Fiji, which doesn’t have formal relations with Taiwan, last month shut down its representative office in Taipei.
Last week, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said that five other representative offices have, under pressure from China, asked to change their names, presumably to make them sound less official. The five are Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan and Ecuador.
Asked for comment, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, “The Chinese government highly commends relevant countries for adhering to the One China principle while handling the Taiwan-related issues.”
Faced with such an implacable opponent, there isn’t much that Taiwan can do. President Tsai declared recently that Taiwan has upheld its “responsibility for maintaining cross-strait peace and stability” but that Beijing’s actions have “challenged the cross-strait status quo”.
She also warned that China’s actions were counterproductive. “Coercion and threats,” she said, will not bring the two sides together. “Instead, they will drive our two peoples apart.”
This is an important consideration for Beijing, whose long-term goal is political unification. What it needs to do is win over hearts and minds in Taiwan. However, its actions are likely to increase support for Tsai within Taiwan and enhance hostility toward the mainland. People rally around their government against an external threat. That happens everywhere. It will happen in Taiwan.