Taiwan is closing its representative office in Papua New Guinea, and the US is calling it another case of China bullying Taiwan's allies.

• Papua New Guinea moved in July to shut down Taiwan's office in Port Moresby, and recently gave Taiwan's staff a deadline to leave.
• Taiwan responded by closing the office itself, pulling all its staff, and ending all aid and technical cooperation programs with Papua New Guinea.
• The US State Department said it is deeply concerned, calling Taiwan a reliable, democratic partner, and said China's pressure campaign threatens global peace and hurts countries' right to choose their own partners.
• Taiwan said Papua New Guinea's actions badly damaged the trust built over years of cooperation, and blamed China for using political and economic pressure to squeeze Taiwan's international space.

Outlook: Expect more countries under Chinese pressure to cut ties with Taiwan, with Washington likely to keep publicly pushing back on Beijing's actions.