Summary China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a faxed request for comment on the development.
TAIPEI (AP) The West African nation of Gambia has cut off relations with Taiwan, the latest country to spurn the island for its mainland rival China.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Chen confirmed the move but declined to give a reason behind the move by Banjul, which seems almost certain to lead to the establishment of formal ties between Gambia and China.
China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing rejects Taiwan s claims of sovereignty, including its right to maintain formal relations with other countries, amid its claim that the self-governing island of 23 million people is part of its territory.
With the loss of Gambia, Taiwan is now recognized by 22 countries, mostly small and impoverished nations in Latin America, the Caribbean and the south Pacific. Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe and Burkina Faso are its only remaining diplomatic allies in Africa.
China is recognized by more than 200 countries.
Earlier this week the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe said that China would open a trade office there, in what Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lin said was a possible prelude to Taiwan losing recognition by that African country as well.
The African moves signal a diplomatic setback for Taiwan, which says that President Ma Ying-jeou s policy of using enhanced trade relations to lower tensions across the 150-kilometer- (100-mile-) wide Taiwan Strait has paved the way for the establishment of an effective truce between Beijing and Taipei over efforts to win recognition by wavering countries.
During Ma s first four-year term at least two Latin American countries cancelled plans to transfer recognition from Taipei to Beijing after what appeared to be Chinese intervention.
While China continues to offer support for Ma s China-friendly policies, it has recently expressed impatience with the Taiwan legislature s refusal to ratify a wide-ranging trade agreement that would allow Beijing and Taipei to set up branches of service industries in each other s territory.
It has pressed Taiwan to hold talks with Beijing on political issues, including confidence-building measures between the two sides militaries.
Ma has so far been reluctant to extend his economic and trade initiatives into the political sphere, largely because of widespread opposition to such a move by the Taiwanese public.
AFP adds: Taiwan on Friday expressed shock and regret over Gambia s surprise announcement that it had broken off ties with the island after 18 years in its "strategic national interest".
"Our government express shock and regret that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh sent a letter to our embassy in Gambia on November 14 to inform us the immediate termination of ties," vice foreign minister Simon Ko told a news conference in Taipei.
"Jammeh has his personal style and we think this is Jammeh s personal decision," Ko said. He did not respond to questions on whether China was pressuring the western African state to sever ties with Taiwan.
Gambia is the first country to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan since President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008 on a China-friendly platform and pledged a "diplomatic truce" with Beijing.
The latest setback means Taiwan is now recognised by just 22 countries, mostly developing states in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific.
It also leaves Taiwan with just three diplomatic allies in Africa -- Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe, and Burkina Faso -- at a time when China is pumping billions of dollars into the continent.
It remained unclear if the severing of ties was linked to the development of relations with China, which has a growing influence in Africa, and if there was any pressure exerted on Gambia to cut ties with Taiwan.
Taiwan and China were separated in 1949 after a civil war, but Beijing still claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
The two sides had for years locked in a bitter diplomatic tug-of-war, luring away each other s allies with generous financial packages in so-called "chequebook diplomacy," until tensions eased markedly in recent years under the Ma administration.
Gambia announced Thursday its decision to break off diplomatic relations with Taiwan immediately, citing the "national interest," according to a statement issued by President Jammeh s office.
"Despite the end of diplomatic ties with Taiwan, we will still remain friends with the people of Taiwan."
Taiwan has poured millions of dollars into the health, education, agriculture and infrastructure sectors of resource-poor Gambia, the smallest country on the African mainland, and President Ma had visited Gambia in April 2012.
