Taiwan scraps donation of army vehicles to Malawi

Taiwan has withdrawn 10 vehicles it was to donate to Malawi for a peacekeeping mission in Darfur, a month after the southern Africa country cut diplomatic ties with the island nation, a senior Malawi official said.

Impoverished Malawi ended 41 years of relations with Taiwan in December and established links with mainland China, which has emerged as a major economic power in Africa and regards Taiwan as a renegade province.

Malawi Defence Minister Bob Khamisa said Taiwan has asked Toyota Malawi for a MK50 million ($356,000) refund that was used to buy the 4x4 Land Cruisers.

"We have not yet collected the vehicles from Toyota Malawi although Taiwan already made the payments to that effect. But now this is a big blow to both Malawi army and the troubled Darfur region," Khamisa told Reuters.

Malawi is sending 800 soldiers to war-torn Darfur under the African Union joint peacekeeping mission. More than 20,000 civilians have died in the last four years in Darfur and the conflict has displaced an estimated 2.5 million people.

Toyota Malawi and Taiwan spokesman Elliot Jiang declined to comment. Toyota said it would release a statement in due course.

The Taiwanese decision comes weeks after it pulled out 19 of its medical staff and equipment from a 300-bed hospital it built in northern Malawi.

Taiwan has also withdrawn technical assistance from a college in the capital Lilongwe, forcing the education ministry to suspend some courses that were on offer.

The number of countries that recognise Taiwan has dwindled since the United States, once Taiwan's biggest backer, formally recognised China in the wake of former U.S. Presi