TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwan’s foreign minister ordered “extreme precautions” be taken Thursday to hold on to the island’s allies in Latin America after Costa Rica switched diplomatic relations to political rival China, further isolating the Taipei government.

Beijing, meanwhile, urged Taiwan’s allies to end their relationships with the island.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister James Huang told reporters he had ordered Taiwanese embassies in Latin America to guard against further Chinese inroads.

“I’ve asked our embassies to take extreme precautions against any further pressure by the Chinese communists,” he said.

Mr. Huang did not elaborate on what the embassies would do but Vice President Annette Lu announced she would travel to Paraguay in July to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with that Latin American country – a move she tied directly to the Costa Rican move.

“Now we have to step up our diplomatic work,” she said.

Since splitting amid civil war in 1949, Taiwan and China have fought to win the diplomatic allegiance of countries around the world. China refuses to have diplomatic ties with nations that recognize Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province it plans to eventually unify with the mainland.

Costa Rica’s switch leaves Taiwan with 24 diplomatic partners. The pervasive fear on this democratic island of 23 million people is that its remaining partners in Latin America will now follow the Costa Rican lead, leaving it to count on countries such as Palau and St. Lucia to bolster its claims of international legitimacy.

“We hope the relevant countries can follow the trend of the times and make the right choice,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular news conference Thursday.

In seeking to gain advantage, both China and Taiwan routinely offer generous grants and other inducements to the mostly poor nations that are now the focus of their diplomatic efforts.

Mr. Huang said Thursday that China had offered Costa Rica “an astronomical figure” to ditch Taipei. He did not specify what it was.

Costa Rican President Arias acknowledged Wednesday that the decision to go with Beijing was related to Costa Rica’s desire to bolster its economy, though he made no mention of any special handout.

“We are looking to strengthen the commercial ties and attract investment,” Mr..Arias said. “China is the most successful emerging economy in the world and soon it will be the second strongest economy in the world after the United States.”