Despite rising chaos in the troubled Solomon Islands, ties between Taipei and Honiara remain stable, said a foreign ministry official after confirming that Taipei issued a US$1 million check to the country's prime minister yesterday.
"The political situation is very stable there and it won't affect our bilateral ties," Peter Cheng (鄭博久), director-general of the foreign ministry's department of East Asian and Pacific affairs, told the Taipei Times.
Cheng's remarks came in the wake of the recent escalation of tension in the capital of the Pacific country. Police on Wednesday erected razor wire barricades around the prime minister's office and the nation's finance department.
The finance department has been unable to pay civil servants for more than a month.
Cheng also confirmed an AFP report filed from Honiara yesterday that said Taiwan ambassador Teng Pei-yin (
"The amount was in Solomon Island dollars," Cheng clarified, which is roughly US$1 million.
State-run Solomon Islands Broadcasting (SIBC) said some of the money would be used for the razor wire fencing and 500,000 Solomon Island dollars would be sent to Fiji to pay school fees for Solomon Islands students at the University of the South Pacific.
Cheng said the latest financial aid package from Taiwan was "long term" in nature and would pay for "a man-power training program" and "a security program."
Solomon Islands is one of five remaining diplomatic allies Taiwan has in the Pacific region, after Nauru, switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing last month. Taipei currently has 27 diplomatic allies.
When contacted yesterday evening, a Honiara-based Taiwanese diplomat confirmed that Taiwan last year promised to lend the troubled state US$25 million.
"But so far we've only given out US$20 million," said the diplomat, who declined to be named.
The diplomat also said disorder in the capital of the Pacific nation was worsening.
"The government has surrounded the prime minister's office and the finance office with razor wire barricades" to keep out angry crowds, he said.
The war-torn Solomon Islands sank into deeper confusion yesterday after Kemakeza sacked his foreign minister and then promptly said he had made a mistake.
Foreign Minister Alex Bartlett, who was a key member of an illegal militant group, was bitterly critical of his sacking and threatened to pull out of the ruling coalition.
"You will hear more discussion over the coming days over this issue because the man is not right, the actions he has taken are completely outrageous and are not in the interests of healing the nation," he told the Radio New Zealand International.
The Solomons has been facing bankruptcy after a war provoked by militants destabilized the country.
The militants, currently known as the Isatambu Freedom movement, live on the main island of Guadalcanal.
The war began when the militants attempted to drive out migrants from the neighboring island Malatia.
In the war around 100 people have been killed in a country, once known as "The Happy Isles," of just 300,000 while 20,000 people have lost their homes.
Malaita responded with the formation of the Malaita Eagle Force, whose leadership included Bartlett, which counter-attacked and staged a coup in 2000, taking over Honiara.
Following democratic elections last December, peace slowly returned but a Guadalcanal warlord, Harold Keke, killed 10 Malaita men last month.
On Monday, Kemakeza reshuffled his Cabinet, downgrading Bartlett to the tourism portfolio and moving eight others down. Kemakeza announced yesterday he was sacking Bartlett altogether.
But later Robert Goh, an official in Kemakeza's department, issued a statement saying the sacking was an error and had been rescinded.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face