Pacific succumbs to Chinese demands

The Pacific Islands Forum has agreed to China’s request to remove references to Taiwan from the final communique of its leaders’ summit that ended in Tonga this week.

Kiribati wants to see the perpetrators behind the Taiwan Communiqué receive due punishment after China’s envoy to the region expressed displeasure over the inclusion of Taipei in the outcome document.

On Friday, Qian Bo, China’s ambassador to the Pacific island nations, Very angry The final communique issued by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat included a section in which Pacific leaders “reaffirmed” their relationship with Taiwan.

Qian Qichen told reporters that the affirmative mention of Taiwan was “definitely a mistake” and “must be corrected,” and the document was removed from the Pacific Islands Forum website shortly afterwards.

The moment when Qian Xuesen asked Mark Brown, former chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum and Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, to delete the content mentioning Taiwan was captured by the camera of the Pacific Channel of New Zealand Radio.

“We’re going to delete it and I’ll discuss it with you later,” Brown can be heard telling Beijing’s top diplomat in the video.

Qian Qichen’s remarks were subsequently widely reported, with some Pacific political commentators seeing them as a sign that Beijing was using its power to influence the region.

The forum secretariat has “re-released” a new version of the communique. A spokesperson for the Pacific Islands Forum said the communique is “the correct version of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Communique”.

The new version deleted the following section: “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China: 66. The leaders reaffirmed the 1992 decision of the leaders on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China.”

“The final version does not change or impact the decision of the conference, nor any standing decisions of the forum leaders,” the spokesperson said in an emailed response.

They added: “The Communiqué is a consensus-based document reflecting the decisions and views agreed by all Pacific Islands Forum parties.”

In response to Qian Qichen’s remarks, the head of the Kiribati delegation said that the Taichung issue was “very sensitive.”

“We think that Taiwan’s inclusion could cause problems,” Kiribati Education Minister Alexander Teabo told New Zealand’s Pacific Radio as he left Tonga on Saturday.

“China is not just an ordinary ally that we can rely on… but also respect very much.

“The fact is that the Taiwan and China issues are domestic political issues in China, and if you look at the United Nations, they recognize China,” he said.

Thibaud said Pacific countries “allied” with Taiwan want Taiwan to join the forum.

“We (most of the Pacific Islands Forum) are following China. We think China will be frustrated,” he said.

“We discussed (the Taiwan issue) and only some (Pacific Islands Forum members) talked about it, but for us, we respect the one-China policy.”

Thibaud said the mistake should be punished.

He responded, “I think so.”

Thibaud added: “Taiwan and China have their own internal politics… now to push it into the forum, we think, will be in some way an attempt to enter our forum family.”

Other government officials spoke to RNZ Pacific about the issue with mixed reactions, with one saying they were disappointed the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat had let Taiwan off the hook, while another said it was no big deal.

Earlier this week, Nauru’s president told RNZ Pacific he Happy about Pacific unity While there were differences of opinion on “some issues”, he did not elaborate on what those issues were.

“The Pacific Ocean is big enough”

Qian Bo said that among the 18 member states of the forum, only three countries recognize Taiwan, adding that “they are trying to sabotage.”

“Taiwan is a part of China.

“The Pacific is big enough for all of us to work together,” he said, adding: “We consider New Zealand to be a strategic partner in many ways.”

This week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Washington welcomes all countries Committed to improving the living standards of people in Pacific countries, including China.

“China’s involvement in some of these areas is beyond reproach,” he said.

But he said concerns remained about Beijing’s intentions and involvement in the region.

“We do have concerns about China’s support for undemocratic forces in certain regions and the fisheries abuses we’ve seen in those regions, and we also have concerns about the potential for China to project military capabilities into peaceful areas,” Campbell said.

Source: RNZ