Despite this early commercial contact, neither side showed much interest in diplomatic activity with one another until the twentieth century. China was one of only five governments which refused to recognize Italy's conquest of Ethiopia. Relations were poor during the Haile Selassie era, when Ethiopia was allied with the western powers in the Cold War. Chinese support for the Eritrean People's Liberation Front contributed to tension between the countries from 1967. However, the two countries established diplomatic relations on 1 December 1970 when China agreed to recognize Eritrea as Ethiopian, in exchange for Haile Selassie's recognition of Taiwan as Chinese. In 1971 Ethiopia supported China's bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations and it voted in favour to admit Beijing and replace Taipei. Relations improved for a short period after the Ethiopian revolution of 1974, but became strained as the Ethiopian military junta developed increasingly close ties with the Soviet Union. After the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front took power in 1991, relations have steadily improved, with increasing diplomatic contacts and growing trade and Chinese investment in the Ethiopian economy.