China, Burkina Faso establish ties

BEIJING: China and Burkina Faso signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations on Saturday, days after the west African nation cut ties with Taiwan in yet another victory for Beijing in its campaign to isolate the island.

A communique on establishing relations was signed in Beijing by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterpart Alpha Barry.

Burkina Faso broke off ties with Taiwan on Thursday, becoming the second country to do so within a month and leaving the democratically ruled island with only 18 diplomatic allies around the world.

Wang said in a speech after the signing that Burkina Faso acknowledged in the communique that "there is only one China in the world."

"The Burkina Faso government is following the trend of the times and made the right political decision," he said.

The move had been widely expected after Burkina Faso defected from Taiwan, which has steadily lost ground in a decades-long diplomatic tug-of-war with China in developing countries.

Taiwan can now claim only one ally in Africa, Swaziland. "Now Africa has only one country with which we have not yet established relations," Wang said. "We hope this country can join the big China-Africa family of friendship as soon as possible."