A Chinese corporation has pledged A$1 billion (US$648.85 million) to Nauru, the Pacific Islands nation with a population of 12,000 said yesterday, as major powers including the US push for influence in the region.
The announcement comes ahead of tomorrow’s meeting of foreign ministers of the Pacific Islands Forum regional bloc and the region’s top political meeting next month.
The Solomon Islands, which hosts the annual leaders meeting and is China’s biggest ally in the region, made the surprise decision to block 21 donor countries, including China and the US, from attending after pressure from Beijing to exclude Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
The US expressed disappointment with the move, but yesterday made its own US$60 million pledge to the region under a 2022 treaty, as news of the Chinese agreement with Nauru was made public.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Monday told Pacific Islands officials in Washington that the long-promised funds would be released, the US Department of State said.
Meanwhile, Australia, the largest forum member, has sent high-level delegations to Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu for security talks.
Nauruan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Lionel Aingimea signed the A$1 billion economic development proposal in Beijing with the China Rural Revitalization and Development Corp (國家鄉村振興發展總), a statement posted on the Nauruan government’s Web site said.
The deal, signed last week, would develop Nauru’s renewable energy, phosphate industry, fisheries, water, agriculture, transportation and health sectors, it said.
Next month’s Pacific leaders meeting would consider regional security, with Australia seeking to block China from forging further security ties in its Pacific neighborhood.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy are today to hold security talks in Vanuatu, with Australian Broadcasting Corp reporting a deal worth A$500 million over a decade under consideration.
Marles yesterday opened the Lombrum Naval Base in Papua New Guinea, which he said was the largest security infrastructure project delivered by Australia in the Pacific.
The upgrade to the base was funded by the US and Australia.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
CRITICISM: It is deeply regrettable that China, which is pursuing nuclear weapons, has suppressed Taiwan, which is pursuing peace, a government official said Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) yesterday accused Beijing of interference after Taiwan’s official delegation to the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan was assigned seating in the “international non-governmental organizations [NGO]” area. “Taiwan is by no means an international NGO, but a sovereign nation that is active on the international stage,” Lee said. Lee and Chen Ming-chun (陳銘俊), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Fukuoka, attended the ceremony in Nagasaki yesterday, which marked the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city. That followed Lee’s attendance at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Wednesday
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