The severing of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Solomon Islands differed from other cases in three ways:
First, the long notice period before the breakup was torture on the friendship between the two nations.
On June 5, Solomon Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeremiah Manele announced that it would decide whether to sever diplomatic ties within 100 days under its “100-Day Program of Action.”
The announcement was made after Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who was re-elected in April, came under pressure from two heavyweight pro-China members of the Solomon Islands Parliament.
Compared with the other six countries that have cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan during President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) time in office, the Solomon Islands kept the highest profile in an attempt to get the greatest package of projects, abusing the 36 years of friendship between the two nations.
Second, instead of a closed-door decision, the whole process was rather transparent.
On the pretext of fact-finding missions to form a decision, a business delegation led by the Solomon Islands minister of forestry and research, as well as the minister of mines, energy and rural electrification, visited China to study the timber industry in the middle of June. During another visit in the middle of last month, a delegation led by at least three Solomon Islands ministers met with Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zheng Zeguang (鄭澤光), who heads the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, to assess cooperation between the two sides.
Following the visit, Sogavare ordered the formation of a cross-party task force to evaluate the Solomon Islands’ diplomatic relations with Taiwan and a Sept. 13 report recommended that Honiara switch recognition to Beijing. In an interview two days before the report’s release, Sogavare himself complained that the friendship between Taiwan and the Solomon Islands was completely useless.
On Monday last week, a Cabinet meeting voted 27-0, with six abstentions, to establish official ties with China and the decision was formally approved by Sogavare.
The decision was openly and transparently made through democratic procedures — it was not at all a closed-door affair.
Third, the US and Australia were less influential than in the past. In early June, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Solomon Islands to persuade it not to turn from Taiwan to China to prevent Chinese expansion in the South Pacific Ocean.
On Sept. 11, US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu Catherine Ebert-Gray expressed her support for Taiwan, calling on Honiara to maintain diplomatic ties.
She said that the US was planning to reopen its embassy in Honiara and that Washington has been pushing for several projects in the country.
US Vice President Mike Pence was to meet with Sogavare at the UN General Assembly session in New York this week, but the efforts were in vain as the breakup became reality.
Despite US and Australian endorsement, Taiwan was unable to shake the Solomon Islands’ determination to establish official ties with China, indirectly proving that US and Australian influence in the region has declined.
China’s oppression of Taiwan’s international space and poaching of its diplomatic allies is nothing new. Hopefully the government will fix the problem, maintain its remaining allies and boost its international visibility.
James Chen is a lecturer in Tamkang University’s Department of Diplomacy and International Relations.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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