Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias has announced that his country has broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan after 60 years and formed relations with China.
Mr Arias said Costa Rica needed to develop closer ties with China in order to attract foreign investment.
Taiwan and China have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, and both still compete for diplomatic recognition.....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6729035.stm
Further evidence of waning US influence.