Solomons blames Taipei for misunderstanding

The Solomon Islands' Cabinet has stated that the country's diplomatic ties with Taiwan "remain intact," but said that Taiwan was entirely to blame for the diplomatic fracas of the last few days, citing as a cause the inexperience of Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂).

The wording of a statement issued by the South Pacific country riled Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), which yesterday protested the "emotional" and "ungrounded" content of the statement.

The Solomon Islands' foreign ministry said its decision was made after considering the pros and cons of switching ties to Beijing.

"MOFA won't rule out taking strong measures in the near future" to handle the recent diplomatic rift between the two countries, ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said at an emergency press conference held early yesterday evening.

Chen refused to specify precisely what such measures were, and he did not rule out Taiwan's cessation of diplomatic ties with the South Pacific state.

The Solomon Islands' Cabinet convened yesterday to discuss a paper presented by its foreign ministry regarding the nation's diplomatic affairs with Taipei and Beijing.

The meeting was held in the wake of Solomon Islands foreign minister Danny Philip's trip to Hong Kong, where he met Chinese officials to discuss China's financial offer to the crisis-torn state, a deal which reportedly would have involved cutting links between the Solomons and Taiwan, diplomatic allies for 17 years.

Lucian Kii, permanent secretary to the Solomon's foreign ministry, told the Taipei Times by telephone that after weighing up the benefits and disadvantages of maintaining ties with Taipei, the Solomon's foreign ministry recommended in its paper that the country should retain its ties with Taiwan.

The Cabinet meeting concluded that ties with Taipei remained unchanged, Teng Pei-yin (鄧備殷), Taiwan's ambassador to Solomon Islands, told the Taipei Times yesterday.

"It's a rational decision," Teng said, when asked to comment on the Solomons' Cabinet decision, adding that he was still waiting for an official confirmation from the Solomon Islands' government.

But the press release, issued late yesterday afternoon by the Government Communications Division of the Prime Minister's Department, apparently surprised MOFA officials.

One high-ranking MOFA representative even described the statement as "nonsense."

Even though the document concluded that "Taiwan-Solomon Islands' relations remain intact," Chen said the ministry was to issue a "strong protest" to the Solomons for what he termed "emotional terms" and "factual mistakes" in the statement.

The press release stated that its finance minister, Snyder Rini, visited Taipei from Aug. 14 to Aug. 18 to request a financial aid package of about US$60 million, and that the response from the Taipei government "was positive."

But the statement went on to describe a trip made by its foreign minister and finance minister to Taipei in early September as "a trip of misunderstanding."

"The [Solomon Islands] government blamed this on the political situation in Taipei," the statement said, referring to the change of premiership, and because of Taiwan foreign minister Tien Hung-mao's "inexperience in handling matters between Honiara and Taipei."

The statement added that the inconclusive arrangements during the trip were "an embarrassment" to the country.