Beijing anger as Pacific backs Taiwan dialogue

Pacific Island leaders have rejected a bid by pro-China Solomons Islands to block Taiwan from engaging with the region’s peak diplomatic body, sparking criticism by Beijing.

Anthony Albanese arrives for the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ traditional photo, in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Picture: AAP

Pacific Island leaders have rejected a bid by pro-China Solomon Islands to block Taiwan from engaging with the region’s peak diplomatic body, sparking a backlash by Beijing.

China’s ambassador to the Pacific nations, Qian Bo, told journalists there “must be a mistake”, after the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga endorsed the grouping’s more than three-decade-old relationship with Taiwan in its final communique issued on Friday.

The Chinese envoy said there was language in the statement that should “not be the final communique”, declaring: “There must be a correction on the text.”

“The situation is obvious,” he told the ABC and Nikkei. “Among the 18 members of the PIF, 15 countries have diplomatic relations with China and 15 countries have categorically stated they stand by the One China principle.”

The statement affirmed Taiwan’s continued engagement with the self-governed territory since 1992.

Taiwan’s Micronesian partners led the pushback against the Solomon Islands’ plan, sparking concerns that forum consensus was under threat. Australia was opposed to any change in the status quo on the forum’s relationship with Taiwan.

Anthony Albanese returned from the PIF meeting on Thursday after winning agreement for a $400m regional policing partnership to set up a regional police response group and boost training in Brisbane and three other centres.

The Australian revealed earlier this week that Honiara – the host of next year’s leaders’ meeting and China’s closest partner in the region – was leading the charge to have Taiwan stripped of its status as a PIF “development partner”.

Anthony Albanese in local headdress while attending the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Picture: X / PMO

Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang attended the PIF leaders’ meeting in the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, this week, but unlike “tier 1” partners like China and the US, he was unable to address the forum.

The diplomatic resistance to any change to Taiwan’s status saw the debate sheeted off to review under an examination of the forum’s future relationships.

Under a proposed new partnership mechanism flagged but not endorsed in the leaders’ communique, “Tier 1 partners will be given ongoing access to the annual Leaders’ dialogue.”

It says Tier 2 partners would be given access to “relevant meetings” and only invited to the annual leaders’ meeting “if their support is relevant to Leaders’ priorities and discussions in any given year”.

Taiwan has official ties with three Pacific Islands states – Marshall Islands, Palau and Tuvalu – despite a concerted push by China to dislodge it from the region’s diplomatic landscape.

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr publicly rejected the Solomon Islands’ proposal. “That would obviously be disrespectful of sovereignty,” he said. “We came together as a forum. We have differences of opinion. We respect that.”

A senior Pacific diplomat told The Australian that China had been “heavily lobbying” Pacific countries to support a change in Taiwan’s access to the forum.

Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka said this week the review would examine Taiwan’s status as a PIF partner.

“This is a question of sovereignty now. We look at Taiwan as not a sovereign country,” he said.

“So we’re reviewing that architecture so that it’s following international law; United Nations law. That’s where we are at the moment.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Solomon Islands’ push to exclude Taiwan from the forum was “regrettable”.

It said Taiwan had made contributions to the PIF partners for decades through financial aid and scholarship programs.

Taiwan has been taking part in the forum as a developmental partner since 1993, after being granted access a year earlier.

Solomon Islands’ Manele government has maintained the country’s close ties with China, underpinned by a controversial security pact signed by former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare.