China, US sparring over El Salvador dropping Taiwan in favor of ties with Beijing

China and the US are sparring over El Salvador’s decision to drop Taiwan in favor of formal relations with Beijing. El Salvador’s announcement Monday prompted the US ambassador to the South American country, Jean Manes, to tweet that the decision “is worrisome for many reasons.” Florida Senator Marco Rubio threatened to block funding for El Salvador, accusing it of being “against the US on everything,” AP said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang responded Wednesday that Washington is “thwarting and even deterring” other countries from recognizing China. In a separate development, the foreign minister of the Kingdom of eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland, said on Wednesday it would not switch its allegiance from Taiwan to China. Beijing said earlier it expected Taiwan’s last diplomatic ally in Africa to switch soon. The relations of eSwatini with Taiwan “is over 50 years so we will not dump them,” Mgwagwa Gamedze told Reuters from Taiwan.