Central America parliament expels Taiwan, makes China permanent observer

Aug 21 (Reuters) – The Central American Parliament on Monday voted to expel Taiwan after more than two decades as a permanent observer and replace it with China, whose growing economic influence in Latin America has increasingly marginalized Taipei. The six-nation parliament, known as Parlacen, met in the Nicaraguan capital Managua where local legislators proposed adding China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory. Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it had decided to withdraw from Parlacen immediately in the interests of upholding “national dignity”, and condemned what it called China’s efforts to suppress Taiwan’s international participation. In a statement,…