Pacific leaders remove Taiwan from document after China protests

The Pacific Islands Forum removed a reference to Taiwan from a communique issued after the region’s annual leaders’ meeting on Friday following protests from a Chinese envoy.

The group consists of 18 countries, three of which have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and 15 that recognise China. China is a major lender for infrastructure development in Pacific island nations, where Beijing is seeking to increase its security presence.

In the communiqué issued at the end of the forum and posted on the forum website, there is a section entitled “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China”, which states that “the leaders reaffirmed the 1992 decision of the leaders on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China.”

However, the document was removed from the website on Friday evening following an angry response from China, and a new one was posted on Saturday morning with the reference to Taiwan removed.

The forum’s secretariat did not respond to a Reuters request for comment and Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no immediate comment.

Taiwan, a development partner of the forum since 1993, sent Vice Foreign Minister Tian Zhongguang to Tonga to meet with its three Pacific allies – Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.

China’s special envoy for Pacific island affairs, Qian Bo, reacted angrily on Friday, telling reporters in Tonga that mentioning Taiwan in the communique was “definitely a mistake,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Nikkei reported.

The Chinese Embassy’s website shows that Bo Xilai lobbied this week to exclude Taiwan from the forum’s official activities.

“Any attempt by the Taiwan authorities to enhance their presence by engaging with the forum is nothing but self-deception,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular news conference in Beijing.

Taiwan’s number of diplomatic allies in the Pacific has shrunk in recent years as China has increased its development funding. Nauru cut ties with Taiwan in January and severed ties with Beijing; Kiribati and the Solomon Islands also cut ties with China in 2019 and both countries now have Chinese police stationed.

Reuters