TAIPEI -- Taiwan lost its second diplomatic ally in a week on Friday after Kiribati switched its allegiance to China, in a sign of increasing pressure from Beijing on the few countries that still have ties with Taipei.
"We are informed by Kiribati this morning," Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu said at a news conference. "Everything happened very quickly in the past few days," he said, adding that Taiwan received the information soon after the Solomon Islands ended its formal relationship with Taipei on Monday.
