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The 53rd Pacific Islands Leaders’ Meeting was held in Tonga.
photo: Pacific Islands Forum
Beijing’s special envoy for the Pacific told reporters in Tonga that “China has made great contributions to the development of the Pacific” and that “Taiwan is not a dialogue partner of the Pacific Islands Forum.”
The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting concluded on Friday with the leaders delivering Communiqué stressing unity Addressing a range of challenges facing the region.
The document, which appears to have been removed from the Pacific Islands Forum website at 7:30pm New Zealand time, included a section titled “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China”.
It states: 66. The two leaders reaffirmed their 1992 decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China.
The Solomon Islands has been urging other Pacific nations at the Tonga conference to remove Taiwan’s status as a “development partner” in the regional body, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
“This is definitely a mistake,” Qian Bo, China’s ambassador to the Pacific, said in response to reporters’ questions in Nuku’alofa.
He said, “This should not be a final communique” and “amendments must be made to the text.”
Chinese Ambassador to the Pacific Qian Bo gives media interviews in Tonga.
photo: Facebook/Pacific Newsroom
Bo Xilai said that among the 18 countries in the forum, 15 have established diplomatic relations with China, and these countries “have clearly expressed their commitment to the one-China principle.”
“It’s an egregious mistake, but one that I think has to be corrected,” he said.
The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat has not provided any update on why the final communique was deleted.
But when pressed by reporters on what mistakes needed to be corrected in the final communique, Bo replied: “Just follow me on WeChat or Facebook and we will make our position clear.”
China reacted strongly to the Pacific Islands Forum’s insistence on Taiwan’s status quo and its refusal to deprive it of its “development partner” status. Chinese Ambassador to the Pacific Islands Xian Bo said this was definitely a “mistake” and he called for a “correction” to the final communique. https://t.co/13Tra8sm1g pic.twitter.com/xCilyMsBW4
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) August 30, 2024
Bo Xilai said that China has communicated with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Secretary-General and some other delegations, and has received broad understanding and support.
But he said whether the problem was adequately addressed was not the main issue.
“The key issue is that Taiwan is part of China and Taiwan will certainly not be a development dialogue partner of the Pacific Islands Forum.”
The Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu are the only Pacific nations that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Earlier this month, Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr told RNZ Pacific that Beijing had “openly told us we should not recognise Taiwan”.
Whipps claims Beijing Use of economic coercion Put pressure on Palau to abandon Taiwan.
However, he said Palau “cherishes” its relationship with Taiwan and “no one should say we can’t be their friend.”
Whipps said Palau is willing to be a friend of China, but not at the expense of its relationship with Taipei.
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