China's Foreign Ministry has announced that Nauru has broken connections with Beijing by switching its diplomatic allegiance to Taipei.
The Rusters news agency says Nauru has been involved in a diplomatic tug of war between the two rivals, swapping recognition to Beijing just three years ago.
The addition of Nauru brings Taiwan's band of allies to 26, most of them small, impoverished countries in Latin America, Africa or the Pacific.
Each side has often accused the other of using "dollar diplomacy", or soft loans and other economic incentives to win allies.
