TAIPEI (Reuters) – The president of Palau said on Thursday that his small Pacific island nation is committed to supporting Taiwan despite “mounting aggressions”, offering his strong backing at a time Beijing is ramping up pressure against Taipei in the region. The Pacific is the site of a diplomatic tug-of-war between Beijing and Washington, and in 2019 China snatched away two of Taiwan’s then-allies there, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands. Palau, which has a population of fewer than 20,000 people and is a close U.S. ally, is one of only 14 countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Chi…