The Taiwanese embassy in Costa Rica closed Friday, after 63 years of diplomatic ties ended when San Jose established relations with China on June 1, according to dpa. "The two peoples have treated each other with sincerity and the friendship has grown day by day," the embassy said in its farewell statement. Taiwanese representatives thanked Costa Rica for having supported the island in the past. "We are convinced that the universal values which both countries share, such as liberty, democracy, peace and human rights, will continue to maintain closely the feelings of fraternity between our peoples," the statement added. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias based the decision to drop relations with Taiwan for China on "realism," given the current weight of the Asian giant in the global economy. Taiwan, seat of the exiled Republic of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, is now recognized by only 24 mostly- small nations, half of them in Latin America. While Taipei has no objection to dual recognition of China and Taiwan, Beijing insists that its allies drop all formal ties with what it regards as a renegade province.
