(6 Jan 2020) Chinese President Xi Jinping said the resumption of diplomatic ties between China and Kiribati "serves the common interests of the people of the two countries" during his first meeting with the Pacific island nation's leader since it severed ties with Taiwan.
A red carpet ceremony was hosted by Xi on Monday to welcome President Taneti Maamau during his first official visit to Beijing.
Kiribati switched allegiances to Communist Party-ruled China in September, leaving Taiwan with just 15 allies as Beijing has steadily siphoned them off through billions of dollars in aid since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.
Maamau on Monday reaffirmed his administration's commitment to the "One China" principle and expressed his "deepest respect" for the Chinese government's sovereignty.
Tsai Ing-wen is favoured to win a second term in the upcoming January 11 election, an outcome that would likely intensify China's economic, diplomatic and military pressure over her refusal to accept its insistence that Taiwan is a part of China.
Since her election, China has increasingly sought to isolate Taiwan diplomatically while ramping up its threat to use force to annex the self-governing island republic.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and wants the island to reunite with the mainland, from which it split during a civil war in 1949.
Maamau also met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang earlier on Monday.

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