U.S. delegation meets with Taiwan’s next president as Nauru switches ties to China

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A delegation of former U.S. officials met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and her newly elected successor in Taipei on Monday, two days after the self-ruling democracy voted to keep their party in power in a rebuke to Beijing.

The visit by the unofficial delegation came as Taiwan, an island 100 miles off the coast of China that Beijing claims as its territory, lost one of its few remaining diplomatic relationships, with the Pacific island nation of Nauru announcing it would switch ties to China.

A Taiwan official described the move as a “blatant challenge” to democracy by Beijing, which says that Taiwan should not have its own president and has criticized the dozens of countries congratulating the island on its successful election.

In the presidential election on Saturday, Taiwan voters elected Lai Ching-te, Tsai’s vice president, whom China had described as a separatist and a “troublemaker” and warned voters against supporting.

Lai, 64, won with 40% of the vote in a three-way race dominated by economic issues, but in which his rivals argued for closer ties with Beijing. Though his liberal Democratic Progressive Party won an unprecedented third consecutive term in power, it lost control of the legislature, which experts say could constrain Lai’s policy options when he takes office on May 20.

Lai’s victory, and China’s response to it, could test recent efforts by Beijing and Washington to repair relations that in recent years have fallen to their lowest point in decades. The status of Taiwan is among the most sensitive issues between China, which has not ruled out the use of force in achieving unification, and the United States, the island’s most important international backer.

The bipartisan U.S.