Friday, January 18, 2019

Why Burkina Faso Switched Recognition from Taiwan to China

The Diplomat published on 16 January 2019 an article titled "Explaining China's Latest Catch in Africa" by Oana Burcu, University of Nottingham, and Eloise Bertrand, University of Warwick.

In May 2018, Taiwan lost one of its last allies in Africa when Burkina Faso switched its diplomatic recognition to China. While bilateral dollar diplomacy played a role, so did regional dollar diplomacy. Burkina Faso received an attractive financial package from Beijing. China also said it would not support the regional security G5 Sahel Joint Force (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) so long as Ouagadougou continued to recognize Taiwan. Once Burkina Faso recognized Beijing, it allowed China to fund the regional organization.