David Kabua, president of the Marshall Islands, visited with his counterpart in Taiwan yesterday (March 23) in Taipei. He reiterated his support and pledge to work together in the future.
This is a good sign for Taiwan that has seen its de facto diplomatic allies decline to 14. However, this is not the entire picture as others have stepped up and forged strong ties with Taiwan. Nations such as Lithuania, have greatly increased their relationship with Taiwan, stopping just short of establishing formal diplomatic ties.
Kabua also spoke about the importance of democracies standing together and his confidence in the relationship of the two countries going forward.
There have been numerous visits by foreign politicians to Taiwan over the past few months. With increasingly horrifying images coming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has also seemed to spur many democratic nations to reaffirm their support for Taiwan.
This increased support could lead to more nations going the Lithuanian route and forging deeper ties with Taiwan. This will likely be especially true if China continues to waffle on whether or not it supports Russia’s belligerence in Ukraine, which is exactly what China has promised to do to Taiwan.