Bilateral Relations: Malawi dumps Taiwan for Uncle China

Malawi has cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan after 41 years and switched allegiance to Africa's benefactor, China.

The decision, announced yesterday, reduced Taiwan's allies to just 23 countries, most of which are in Latin America, Africa and the South Pacific.

Joyce Banda, Malawi's foreign affairs minister, said: "We have decided to switch from Taiwan to mainland China after careful consideration on the benefits that we will be getting from mainland China."

In response, Taiwan's foreign ministry announced it would immediately break off ties with the African country.