TAIPEI — Nauru has severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, just days after Taiwanese voters elected a new president.

Nauru's government said it would "no longer recognize [Taiwan] as a separate country but rather as an inalienable part of China's territory".

China has over the past years been poaching Taiwan's diplomatic allies.

Taiwan called the timing of the move "China's retaliation against our democratic elections".

Nauru's diplomatic switch leaves just 12 countries still keeping diplomatic ties with Taipei, including Guatemala, Paraguay and the Marshall Islands.

Taiwan's election over the weekend saw voters pick pro-sovereignty candidate William Lai as their next president — a move that angered Beijing.

Beijing has labelled Lai a "troublemaker" over remarks he made in the past supporting Taiwanese independence, which it sees as a red line.

Taipei's deputy foreign minister Tien Chung-kwang confirmed that it has severed ties with the Pacific island nation, saying the move was "in order to uphold [Taiwan's] sovereignty and dignity".

"This timing is not only China's retaliation against our democratic elections but also a direct challenge to the international order," the ministry said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In a media conference on Monday, Tien accused China of taking advantage of recent "political fluctuations" in Nauru to "buy over" the country with financial aid.

"China thinks it can suppress Taiwan with such methods, I think it is wrong. The world has noticed Taiwan's democratic development. If [Beijing] continues to use such despicable methods to seize Taiwan's diplomatic relations, democratic countries all over the world will not recognise it," Tien said.

Still, his ministry remains "on strong alert" to combat further moves from China to isolate Taiwan on an international stage, he said.

Beijing welcomed Nauru's decision.

"The decision of the Government of Nauru to resume diplomatic relations with China fully demonstrates once again that the one-China principle is the will of the people and the trend of the times," China's foreign ministry said.

This is not the first time Nauru has cut ties with Taiwan. In 2002, Nauru made a similar diplomatic switch to China - it later restored relations with Taiwan in May 2005. — BBC