Taipei, Oct 13: Premier Yu Shyi-Kun said today he had rejected Foreign Minister Eugene Chien's offer to quit over Taiwan's loss of diplomatic ally Liberia to rival China. "I asked him not to blame himself for the setback and asked him to stay on the job," Yu told reporters.
Chien told parliament earlier today that he had offered to resign for failing to retain ties to Liberia and had offered to resign.
Liberia re-established official links with China over the weekend and Taiwan responded by severing ties with the West African nation and protesting Beijing's "dollar diplomacy" efforts to lure away its friends.
Taiwan and China have been engaged in a diplomatic tug-of-war since their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
The latest setback reduced to 26 the number of countries recognising Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of Chinese territory to be "reunified" with, by force if necessary. Bureau Report