Malawi Officials Shun Taiwan Official

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan's ties with its ally Malawi were shaky Friday after the African country snubbed the island's top diplomat in an aborted visit to the African nation aimed at persuading it to resist diplomatic wooing by China.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister James Huang left for Malawi on Wednesday after two senior Malawian government ministers visited Taipei's rival, Beijing, in what Taiwan feared was a prelude to the establishment of formal ties between Malawi and China.

But Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Friday that Huang had to scrap the trip to Malawi after its government said senior officials there would not be available to meet him.

"After (Huang) took off, Malawi informed us that President Bingu wa Mutharika was still on holiday and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joyce Banda left the capital due to an unforeseen incident," the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. The two sides have since been engaged in an all-out contest to win the diplomatic allegiance of nations around the world.

In recent years, China's rising political and economic clout has helped it persuade more countries to recognize Beijing and not Taipei, reducing the number of Taiwan's allies to only 24 — most of them small and impoverished nations in Latin America, Africa and the South Pacific.

By contrast, China is now recognized by more than 170 countries.

Acting Taiwanese foreign ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh said Taiwan was closely monitoring ties with Malawi. She acknowledged "it was not normal" that Malawian officials canceled meetings with Huang.

The ministry said Banda reassured Huang by phone, however, that "mutual ties remain unchanged."

Huang was visiting Swaziland, another of Taiwan's African allies, on Friday.