Two Taiwan allies attend Beijing forum as China steps up diplomatic pressure

(Reuters) - Haiti's foreign minister was one of Taiwan's two diplomatic allies attending a forum on Tuesday in Beijing between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries, as China steps up its pressure campaign against the diplomatically isolated island.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has formal ties with only 12 nations, two of which, Haiti and Saint Lucia, joined the event, the Forum of China and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC.

Reuters reporters at the forum saw the flags of both in the main plenary hall at the venue in the Chinese capital, with Haiti represented by Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste and Saint Lucia by diplomat Peter Lansiquot.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, asked about the presence of the two countries, said the forum is an important platform for "mutually beneficial cooperation" between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries.

"China has always welcomed and supported the participation of CELAC member states in the activities within the framework of the forum," he told reporters, without elaborating.

Haiti and Saint Lucia are both members of CELAC.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said it had been told in advance by the respective countries of their officials' attendance, and that Haiti had said its foreign minister was there given the country's membership of CELAC.

Saint Lucia said that Lansiquot was present not as a government representative but as a member of the Saint Lucia Labour Party, according to the ministry's statement.

Senior officials from both countries have repeatedly expressed the importance of their friendship with Taiwan, the ministry added.

Neither the Haiti nor Saint Lucia embassies in Taiwan responded to requests for comment.

Two diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said China has previously had such interactions with Taiwan allies at the same event.

The flags of other CELAC members who also have ties with Taiwan, such as Guatemala and Belize, were not seen in the room.

Taiwan strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying it has every right to have diplomatic relations with other countries and that China has no right to speak for it on the global stage or pressure its international space.

Honduras was the last regional nation to switch diplomatic ties to Beijing from Taipei, in 2023.

Saint Lucia has had relations with Beijing before, and re-established ties with Taiwan in 2007, bucking the trend of countries switching to China.

Haiti's relations with Taiwan date back to 1956.

(Reporting by Liz Lee and Eduardo Baptista; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee in Taipei; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Himani Sarkar)