Ahead of President Chen Shui-bian's (
The Marshall Islands, a collection of central Pacific Ocean coral atolls which are home to 60,000 people, switched recognition from China to Taiwan in 1998 in return for aid.
Senator Justin deBrum in a statement issued on Thursday said senators linked to the ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) who have accepted money "have violated their oaths of office and degraded the integrity of government and betrayed the people of the Marshall Islands."
DeBrum was responding to allegations in the media about payments to some members of the majority party.
The weekly Marshall Islands Journal reported last week that sources had confirmed that payments had been made to some government leaders to encourage a return of diplomatic ties to China.
It quoted a high-level government official as saying that most Cabinet members who were offered payments refused to accept them because they support diplomatic links with Taiwan.
Chen arrives in Majuro tomorrow for a 36-hour visit, his first to the Marshall Islands.
DeBrum, a minister in a previous government that established diplomatic ties with Taiwan, said that the Marshallese people should demand "a thorough inquiry."
"Those who took money should then be prosecuted," he said.
Sources alleged that people linked to China made payments to many United Democratic Party elected leaders and other party members beginning last December.
One UDP-aligned senator was distributing checks to other elected officials in Majuro as recently as last month, according to one source. The payments reportedly amounted to between US$6,000 and US$10,000 to senators and Cabinet ministers and were made to encourage a return of diplomatic ties with China. A spokesman denied the charge but declined to comment further.
Individuals in and out of government said that checks were issued to most UDP-aligned Nitijela (parliament) members as well as to some UDP-aligned individuals not in parliament.
Some of the impoverished Pacific nations -- along with others in Africa and Latin America -- have been a target for the battle for diplomatic recognition between China and Taiwan. Prior to Kiribati President Anote Tong switching alliances from China to Taiwan after his election in 2003, opposition party leaders accused the Taiwanese of delivering thousands of dollars in cash to Tong. He and Taiwanese officials denied the charges at the time.
A Marshall Islands government leader, who did not want to be named, said the Marshall Islands received little from China in the years it recognized China.
Taiwan gives the Marshall Islands about US$10 million in annual aid, technical assistance in agriculture and student scholarships.
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