Another own goal for Chinese diplomacy, this time in Brazil. The Chinese embassy there sent a letter telling members of parliament not to congratulate Tsai Ing-wen on her recent inauguration. It was leaked, spawning the #VivaTaiwan hashtag now trending. https://twitter.com/PauloMartins10/status/1265038976617984002

. @iingwen's social media team has taken advantage of yet another case of Chinese diplomatic overreach to boost her exposure in Brazil via #VivaTaiwan https://twitter.com/iingwen/status/1265185410436612097?s=19

Praising Taiwan has increasingly become a proxy for sovereignty in the face of PRC pressure. People may know little about Taiwan, but they know it stands up to China. When PRC belittles a country's sovereignty/pride, it generates sympathy for Taiwan (see also #MilkTeaAlliance).

Inversely, if your country's not-so-democratically-elected government requires China's support to stay in power, Taiwan might be so taboo that you have a nationwide ban on publicly displaying Taiwan's ROC flag (see Cambodia). https://english.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-bans-taiwan-flag-from-cambodia-124609/