Straits Times
Date: October 8, 2019

TAIPEI (BLOOMBERG) – Seventy years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, President

Xi Jinping is nearing a goal that was only a distant dream for Mao Zedong: Getting every country in the world to drop diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.

The decision of two Pacific Island states to switch relations to Beijing from Taipei in recent weeks leaves the Republic of China (ROC) – the government forced off the mainland by Mao's forces in 1949 – with just 15 formal diplomatic partners.

President Tsai Ing-wen's security council acknowledged last month that the island could lose as many as two more allies this year, as Mr Xi accelerates efforts to isolate her pro-independence party.

The approaching milestone raises as many questions for Mr Xi as it does for Ms Tsai, as she faces a re-election fight against a China-friendly rival in January. While the diplomatic squeeze may make some voters feel it's futile to resist unification with the mainland, it also risks backfiring and bolstering those who have long argued for replacing the ROC with a Republic of Taiwan.  [FULL  STORY]