Tsai met Belize's prime minister on the final stop of a visit to Central America, where allies have been dwindling, and barely a week after Honduras became the latest to switch ties to Beijing.
Only Belize and Guatemala remain allies of Taiwan in Central America after Nicaragua shifted its allegiance to Beijing in 2021, El Salvador in 2018, Panama in 2017 and Costa Rica in 2007.
China considers self-ruled, democratic Taiwan part of its territory to be retaken one day, and does not accept other countries recognizing both Beijing and Taipei.
Tsai said the tiny nation of Belize, through its participation in the United Nations and other fora her country are excluded from, "has helped give voice to the 23 million people of Taiwan."
Belize is a country of about 400,000 people.
Taiwan, Tsai added in an address to Belize's National Assembly, faced "constant threats and pressure from the neighbor on the other side of the Taiwan Strait."
Other than Guatemala and Belize, Taiwan retains diplomatic ties with 11 other countries: Paraguay, Haiti, the Holy See, Eswatini and seven small Caribbean and Pacific nations.
Belize Prime Minister John Briceno thanked Tsai for her visit to "strengthen this partnership, and reaffirm our commitment to prosperity for our people."
In Guatemala on Sunday, Tsai vowed Taiwan would "continue assisting" its allies, while her counterpart Alejandro Giammattei said his country would maintain "recognition of the sovereignty" of Taiwan.
Tsai stopped in New York on her way to Guatemala, and has announced plans to meet current US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on her way home, angering Beijing.
McCarthy confirmed he would meet Tsai on Wednesday, defying warnings from China that he was "playing with fire."
Latin America has been a key diplomatic battleground since Taiwan and China separated in 1949, following a civil war in which the communists seized power on the mainland while the nationalists retreated to Taiwan.
Top Republican McCarthy to meet Taiwanese president in US
Washington (AFP) April 3, 2023 -
Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed he would meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California on Wednesday, defying dire warnings from China that he was "playing with fire."
Tsai plans to stop over in the United States on her return from Central America, where she has met the leaders of Guatemala and is visiting Belize before meeting McCarthy.
His office said Monday the "bipartisan" meeting will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, just outside Los Angeles.
McCarthy had originally planned to follow the example of his Democratic predecessor as speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who visited Taiwan in August, prompting a furious China to conduct its largest-ever military exercises around the island -- a self-governing democracy Beijing claims as part of its territory.
McCarthy's decision to meet Tsai in the United States was viewed as a compromise that would underscore support for Taiwan but avoid inflaming tensions with China.
However Xu Xueyuan, the charge d'affaires of China's embassy to Washington, told reporters last week that Washington risked "serious confrontation" no matter whether US leaders visited Taiwan or the reverse.
"The US keeps saying that transit is not a visit and that there are precedents, but we should not use past mistakes as excuses for repeating them today," she said.
She urged Washington "not to repeat playing with fire on the Taiwan question," alluding among other things to last year's visit to Taiwan by Pelosi.
As speaker of the House of Representatives, McCarthy is the most senior Republican lawmaker and is second in line to the US presidency.
- 'Peace and stability' -
After arriving in New York last Wednesday ahead of her Central America swing, Tsai was greeted by flag-waving Taiwanese expatriates as she addressed a banquet.
"We have demonstrated a firm will and resolve to defend ourselves, that we are capable of managing risks with calm and composure and that we have the ability to maintain regional peace and stability," she told the dinner.
Laura Rosenberger, who heads the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy in the absence of diplomatic relations, welcomed Tsai to New York but the State Department said it did not expect officials to meet her.
China claims the democratic island as part of its territory to be retaken one day and, under its "One China" principle, no country may maintain official ties with both Beijing and Taipei.
Pelosi's visit last year triggered an angry response from Beijing, with the Chinese military conducting drills at an unprecedented scale around the island.
The United States remains Taiwan's most important ally -- and its biggest arms supplier -- despite switching its diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.
The US stopover comes at a key time, with Beijing having ramped up military, economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan since Tsai came to power in 2016.
US media reported that around 20 US lawmakers planned to accompany the speaker to the meeting in California.
China has increased investment in Latin America, a key diplomatic battleground between Taipei and Beijing since the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war.
Taiwan accused China on Sunday of using "coercion and intimidation" to lure away its allies after Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina and his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang officially launched relations in Beijing.
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