Solomons ties appear in doubt

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Snyder Rini resigned amid public jubilation yesterday, but sparked concerns that Taiwan's ties with the nation may be at risk after the man likely to take his place said he would review the relationship.

Cheering crowds gathered in the capital Honiara just minutes after Rini made his announcement in parliament when it became clear he would lose a motion of no confidence amid the defection of five government members.

Manasseh Sogavare, the opposition candidate for prime minister, said that if elected his government would review ties with Taipei.

In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it hoped relations with the Solomon Islands would remain intact and that Sogavare would uphold his party's commitment to continue bilateral ties with Taiwan.

Ministry spokesperson Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said Sogavare, head of the Social Credit party, was prime minister in 2000 and his party had advocated developing bilateral ties with Taiwan, a policy spelled out in its party platform.

Lu said an AP wire report was the only local report claiming Sogavare was thinking of cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and that other major media outlets -- particularly those run by Australia and New Zealand, the closest Western powers to the country in the region -- had not filed similar reports.

However, other news agencies had also published the comments carried by AP.

As of press time yesterday, Lu said the nation's ambassador in Solomon Islands had not been able to confirm with Sogavare the veracity of the comments.

Solomon Islands Ambassador to Taiwan Beraki Jino yesterday said he was not aware of the report and had not been informed by Honiara about it.

Jino said that the report was merely "speculation," adding that the Solomon Islands had maintained diplomatic ties with Taiwan for more than 20 years and that bilateral relations have been "beneficial" and "strong."

"The successive governments of the Solomon Islands have been with Taiwan for the last 20 years. [We] haven't changed the policy. So I think it [the report] was just some speculation," Jino told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview yesterday.

In Honiara, Sogavare said that there was strong support for a review of the diplomatic recognition of Taiwan among opposition MPs, although he did not say if he personally supported a switch in recognition to Beijing.

In the United Arab Emirates, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) rejected an accusation by his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer yesterday that Taiwan was involved in Rini's election.

Downer has alleged that the election process was influenced by back-room bribes bankrolled by Taiwan or China.

"We don't want to see chequebook diplomacy entering the Pacific," Downer said.

"Taiwan absolutely has never got involved in the elections. Accusations like this are groundless," Huang said.