CHOOSING CHINA This screen grab made from video released by Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) on Friday, Dec.10, 2021 shows Laureano Ortega Murillo (left), Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s son and presidential advisor for Investments, Trade and International Cooperation, greeting China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu during a ceremony in Tianjin after Nicaragua announced it had switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China. CCTV PHOTO/AFP
MANAGUA, Nicaragua: Nicaragua switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China on Thursday (Friday in Manila) in a diplomatic coup for Beijing as it seeks to isolate the democratic island it has vowed to one day seize.