The Taipei Trade Office in Fiji has been restored to its former name, the Trade Mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Republic of Fiji, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Fiji on Friday last week issued a note verbale to the office saying that the name change was retroactively effective from March 15, Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Wallace Chow (周民淦) told a news conference in Taipei.
The mission’s diplomatic privileges have been reinstated as stipulated in Fiji’s Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act, which was enacted in 1971, Chow said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Taiwan set up a trade mission in Fiji in 1971, which was closed and replaced by the East Asia Trade Center in 1976, a year after China and Fiji established diplomatic relations.
The East Asia Trade Center was renamed the Trade Mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Republic of Fiji in 1988, before Beijing pressured Fiji to change it to the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji in 2018 and to revoke the privileges of Taiwanese diplomats.
Taiwan typically uses the term “Taipei” instead of its official name “Republic of China (Taiwan)” when naming its de facto embassies in most nations, mainly because the host nation adheres to Beijing’s “one China” principle.
After the Fijian general elections in December last year, pro-democratic opposition parties the People’s Alliance Party, the National Federation Party and the Social Democratic Liberal Party formed a coalition and overruled the name change imposed by the former government, Chow said.
The new government acknowledges Taiwan’s contributions in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, medical care and education, which have benefited the people of Fiji since Taiwan established its representative office in 1971, he said.
The ministry thanked Fiji for its decision, adding that Fiji is a like-minded partner in the Pacific region and Taiwan would continue to boost its ties with the nation.
Although China has so far made no comment on the change, “it might react quite aggressively,” Chow said.
Asked whether the move indicates that Fiji has the intention to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, he said that the ministry does not exclude the possibility and it would deliberate on any proposal to expand Fiji’s economic and trade space with Taiwan.
Fiji closed its representative office in Taipei in 2017, reportedly due to a need to make better use of its resources and not because of pressure from China.
A diplomatic source told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the new Fijian government, which is more friendly toward Taiwan, has been in talks to reopen the office in Taipei.
Despite the lack of official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Fijian leaders have visited Taiwan and even spoken up for Taiwan’s international participation on several occasions, CNA cited the source as saying.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net