President Nayib Bukele confirmed El Salvador's diplomatic relationship with China, Reuters reported June 27, signaling an unlikelihood that the country would renew the ties with Taiwan that it had broken off last year under the previous administration. Why It Matters: The status of El Salvador's diplomatic relationship with China had been in question after the February election of Bukele, who took office June 1. Bukele expressed reservations over the potential benefits of establishing relations with China, which would essentially mean giving up on his country's longtime ties with Taiwan. Earlier this year, the White House looked at ways to penalize El Salvador and the Dominican Republic for their 2018 recognition of China, including a possible expulsion of both from the CAFTA-DR free trade agreement (although doing that while leaving the deal intact would be difficult).