Pacific Islands Forum agreed to leave Taiwan out of its final communique

An initial version of the Pacific Islands Forum communique published on Friday mistakenly referenced Taiwan after leaders had agreed to leave the territory out of the final document.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

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Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum agreed to omit a reference to Taiwan in the communique for their 53rd meeting in Tonga last week but an incorrect version of the document was published by mistake on the Friday.

A source close to the negoti­ations told The Australian that an initial version of the PIF communique published last Friday did not reflect the agreement reached by leaders the previous day.

This meant an updated version had to be issued on the Saturday.

The communique initially published had reaffirmed Taiwan’s status as a PIF development partner since 1992, prompting objections from China’s ambassador to the Pacific nations Qian Bo.

The correct version – removing the reference – was published on Saturday in an outcome that created confusion and speculation that PIF members had been pressured by Beijing.

Anthony Albanese clarified on Sunday that the communique ­issued on Saturday was an accurate reflection of the decisions taken by PIF leaders last week.

He also stressed the importance of safe navigation in the South China Sea following a confrontation between The Philippines and Chinese coast guards near the Sabina Shoal, prompting both Beijing and Manila to accuse each other of irresponsible ­conduct.

“We need safe navigation in the South China Sea,” Mr Albanese said.

“Australia’s played a role with The Philippines in ensuring our position with regard to safe navigation and safety there occurs,” he said. “We need nations in the South China Sea to recognise the international law of sea requires safe navigation ... and these details, I’ll get a full briefing about it.

“But there shouldn’t be danger­ous activity because it comes with great risk.”

“With regard to the (PIF) communique, the communique that was distributed effectively reflected the decisions that were actually made at the Pacific Island leaders meeting,” Mr Albanese said.

The Coalition had pressed the government to clarify what had happened at PIF and make clear that Australia would “not yield to pressure to further isolate ­Taiwan.”

Pacific Nation leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, pose for a family photograph ahead of the leaders’ retreat in Tonga. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham questioned whether the PIF or any of its 18 individual members had been pressured to remove the initial affirmation of Taiwan’s status as a PIF development partner.

“Both the process and the substance matter here – was the PIF or were individual members pressured into making this change?” he told The Australian.

“The simple fact is that Taiwan is a longstanding development partner in the Pacific and this controversy has only brought more attention to that fact.

“Australia should not yield to pressure to further isolate Taiwan from any of its existing roles as part of the global community.”

The Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program director, Mihai Sora, also said the “Australian public would be interested to know what position Australia took” over the decision to remove the reference to Taiwan.

He suggested an intervention by China would have directly interfered with PIF’s “established processes and the norm of non-­interference that all Pacific countries typically abide by.”

Mr Sora said the leaders’ communique was negotiated by PIF country members in the room and “typically it does not include contributions from China or Taiwan or non-PIF members.”

“China is cashing in on the increased access and influence it has in some Pacific countries like Solomon Islands to try to achieve a broad objective – in this case eradicating diplomatic support for Taiwan in as many international settings as possible,” Mr Sora said.