Malawi to forge China ties in setback for Taiwan

Malawi will announce the establishment of diplomatic ties with China this month but will retain economic links with Taiwan, a Malawian foreign ministry official said on Friday.

"A delegation ... was in mainland China last week to discuss bilateral relations with Malawi and the announcement will be made anytime this month," the official told Reuters.

China, which is importing minerals and oil from around the world to feed its booming economy, is the world's third-largest investor in Africa. In the first 10 months of this year alone, China's total trade with Africa leaped by just over 30 percent as Chinese companies signed up contracts from Congo to Niger.

Local media reported on Friday that the Malawian government had cancelled a planned meeting with Taiwanese officials, raising speculation that Malawi might end 41 years of diplomatic relations with the island nation in favour of mainland China.

Malawi's leading daily, The Nation, said Taiwanese Foreign Affairs Minister James Huang had been due to meet Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika this week.

Taiwan said last month it had sent officials to Malawi to save diplomatic relations amid reports that arch-rival China was aggressively courting the southern African nation.

The Malawian foreign ministry official did not comment on the future of diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but said Malawi would like to maintain its economic ties. Malawi, whose economy is growing rapidly buoyed by the agricultural sector, has never had diplomatic relations with economic powerhouse China before.

Many Western officials have criticised Beijing's multi-billion-dollar aid, trade and investment overtures in Africa, saying its no-strings approach sidesteps necessary safeguards to maintain transparency and avoid corruption.

African leaders brushed those concerns aside at an Africa-European Union summit last month, saying they were mature enough able to deal with China and defend their own economic interests.

China, which has seen self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, wants to isolate the island internationally and pressure it into unification by making diplomatic allies switch ties to Beijing.

Taiwan's allies, which the island leadership sees as key to its legitimacy against China, have dwindled to 24, mostly small countries in poor regions, compared to China's 170.