The Solomon Islands has allegedly threatened to switch ties from Taipei to Beijing unless Taiwan pays US$150 million to the South Pacific nation -- a charge Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) officials deny.
DPP legislator Parris Chang (
"Young told my source that the foreign minister of the Solomon Islands [Danny Philip] had asked him [Young] to come to Taipei to present a demand to MOFA," Chang told the Taipei Times by telephone. "That is, China has promised US$125 million [to the Solomon Islands] on the condition that the country switch ties from Taipei to Beijing. And he'll be asking Taiwan to pay US$150 million to have a higher bid."
If Taipei rejects the deal, the country would immediately announce its decision to switch ties from Taipei to Beijing, Chang said.
Chang urged MOFA not to bend to what he described as "diplomatic blackmail."
MOFA officials, however, said Chang's allegations were groundless.
"It's impossible. The Solomon Islands' foreign minister left Taiwan last Saturday. He visited MOFA on Thursday and Friday, and didn't mention anything about money," said Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Ta-wei (
Claiming that all the foreign aid schemes have to be planned in advance, Lee said it's impossible for MOFA to issue such a large sum of money to the state.
MOFA's deputy spokesman Andrew Chang (
The Solomon Islands is one of 29 countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The 22-year-old state established formal ties with Taiwan in 1983.
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