Guyana scraps Taiwanese trade office, Taiwan blames 'evil' China

Less than a day after Taiwan announced that it was setting up trade office in Guyana, Guyana's foreign ministry said the agreement had been scrapped. Taiwan fumed as it blamed 'evil' China of pressuring Taiwan into scrapping the deal.

"We express strongest dissatisfaction and condemnation that the Chinese government has again bullied and suppressed Taiwan in the international space," Taipei's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The Chinese government says one thing but does another which will only highlight its evil nature and further distance the people on the two sides."

Taiwan enjoys recognition over China from only 15 countries. China considers Taiwan as its own territory.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure and snatched seven of Taiwan's diplomatic allies since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, as she refused to acknowledge its stance that the island belongs to "one China".

Taiwan had said Thursday that its representative office in Guyana had started operations provisionally in January, a step the United States called a "milestone".

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But Guyana issued a statement the same day, saying it "wishes to clarify that it continues to adhere to the One China policy and its diplomatic relations remain intact with the People's Republic of China".

Taiwan's presidential office spokesman Xavier Chang described Guyana's decision as "unilateral".

China's foreign ministry spokesman had warned Thursday that any attempted by Taipei "to get foreign support and engage in separatist activities is doomed to fail".

(With AFP inputs)