China has broken diplomatic relations with Kiribati about three weeks after it recognised Taiwan, ..regarded by Beijing as a breakaway province.
Beijing and Taipei have been bitter diplomatic rivals since their split at the end of a civil war in 1949, accusing each other of using money -- or so-called "dollar diplomacy" -- to swap potential allies back and forth.
The switch by Kiribati brought the number of countries recognising the self-ruled island to 27.
