Taiwan is pulling out of Papua New Guinea entirely, a defiant move that's bad for PNG's economy but meant to send a message to China.

• Taiwan's foreign ministry is closing its representative office in Papua New Guinea and withdrawing all staff, citing national dignity and diplomatic independence.
• The move follows PNG's July decision to unilaterally shut Taiwan's office there, which Taiwan believes was driven by Chinese political pressure.
• Taiwan is also cutting off technical, medical, and scholarship aid programs to PNG, though it says it will wind these down responsibly.
• On the economic side, Taiwan is permanently stopping spot-market purchases of PNG natural gas, a market where Taiwan bought about a third of PNG's gas exports, which will hurt PNG's export income.
• Taiwan says it has already lined up alternative gas supplies so its own energy security won't be affected.

Outlook: Taiwan says it won't spend diplomatic resources on relationships without mutual trust, and plans to focus instead on deepening ties with like-minded countries as China keeps pressuring others to isolate Taipei.