Beijing reestablished diplomatic ties with Gambia on Thursday after over two decades of suspension following the West African nation’s recognition of Taipei in 1995, The Wall Street Journal reported. Gambia severed ties to Taipei in late 2013 in hopes of attracting aid from China–but the move was rebuffed by Beijing, which was then focused on maintaining warming cross-straits relations under Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, whose Nationalist Party was defeated in January’s legislative and presidential elections. “Beijing is sending a clear signal to [Taiwanese president-elect] Tsai Ing-wen that she should steer a moderate cross-strait policy that’s acceptable to the mainland,” Wu Yongping, a professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing.