The US is reassessing its assistance to the Solomon Islands after the South Pacific nation cut it ties with Taiwan in favor of China earlier this week, a senior official at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said on Wednesday.
The Solomon Islands was the sixth country to switch allegiance to China since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016.
The move left Taipei with formal relations with only 16 countries, many of them small, less-developed nations in Central America and the Pacific.
Photo: Reuters / Youths Online Campaign — For Change Solomon Islands
Asked at a budget hearing of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs whether any funds would be directed to the Solomon Islands in fiscal 2020, Gloria Steele, acting assistant administrator of USAID’s Asia bureau, said: “We are reassessing our assistance to the Solomon Islands at this point.”
Steele did not elaborate and USAID did not immediately respond to a request for details.
On Tuesday, another senior US official said that US Vice President Mike Pence had declined a request from Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to meet to discuss development partnerships after it cut ties with Taiwan.
Sogavare had in July asked Pence for a meeting, which was to have taken place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City next week, or afterward in Washington.
“The decision by the Solomon Islands to change its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China has consequences. They’re hurting a historically strong relationship by doing this,” the senior US official said.
While working to counter China’s expanding global influence, Washington has criticized countries for switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
USAID supports programs in the Solomon Islands for disaster risk reduction and to counter the effects of climate change via assistance covering 12 Pacific Island countries, a US Department of State fact sheet from last year showed.
The US Coast Guard and military also train security officials in the Solomon Islands.
The US provided US$50,000 to assist with a dengue fever outbreak there in 2013 and US$250,000 to help with Cyclone Ita flood recovery in 2014, the department said.
Beijing on Tuesday said that the Solomon Islands would now have unprecedented development opportunities after cutting ties with Taiwan.
The Solomon Islands’ decision followed a months-long review of the pros and cons of a switch to Beijing, which was offering US$8.5 million in development funds to replace support from Taiwan.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
CLOSER TO CHINA: The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000km, compared with the original model’s range of 200km, and can reach mainland China Japan is preparing to deploy its first batch of domestically developed long-range missiles, with their launchers arriving at an army camp yesterday, as the country accelerates its offensive capability in response to rising challenges in the region. The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles are to be deployed at Camp Kengun in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto by the end of this month, completing the process of deployment, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said without giving details. Army vehicles carrying the launchers and other equipment arrived past midnight in a highly secretive mission criticized by residents. Dozens of people stood outside of the
RSS