Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi shakes hands with Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele during a ceremony marking the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, September 21, 2019. Sheng Jiapeng/CNS via REUTERS/Stringer
BEIJING (Reuters) - China and former Taiwan ally the Solomon Islands established diplomatic ties on Saturday in a sign of Beijing's growing influence in the Pacific that has angered Washington, with a top Chinese diplomat saying the time was almost up for the rest of Taiwan's friends.
In a setback for self-ruled and democratic Taiwan, which China claims as a province with no right to state-to-state ties, Beijing this week won over two previous Taiwanese allies in the Pacific - the Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
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