COVID-19 Vaccines Donated by China Arrive in Nicaragua

On Sunday, Nicaragua received 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines from a one-million batch of COVID-19 doses donated by China to President Daniel Ortega’s administration, which severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan last week.

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Health Minister Martha Reyes and the Minister Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Costa Rica were present at the reception ceremony carried out at the Managua International Airport.

"The Nicaraguan people deeply appreciate this gesture of solidarity, cooperation, friendship, and brotherhood of the Chinese government and people," said Laureano Ortega Murillo, the Investments, Trade, and International Cooperation presidential advisor who led the Nicaraguan delegation that made the official resumption of diplomatic relations with China.

He also pointed out that Nicaragua and China share "a revolutionary and humanistic spirit," which leads both nations to work in favor of "peace, social justice, and the common good."

Nicaragua has had relations with Taiwan since the 1990s. On Dec. 9, however, President Ortega announced that his country recognizes that there is only one China in the world, stressing that the island of Taiwan is an "inalienable part" of the Chinese territory.

A day later, President Xi Jinping's administration resumed diplomatic relations with Nicaragua, expressing the "mutual recognition" between both nations and reestablishing its diplomatic corps at the level of ambassadors.

Over the last years, other Central American countries such as Panama and El Salvador also broke relations with Taiwan and aligned themselves with the position that defends the Chinese sovereignty over the island. Currently, only 14 out of 194 countries in the world recognize Taiwan as an independent country. Among them are Guatemala, Honduras, and Paraguay.