The Solomon Islands foreign minister Danny Philip, who failed to reach Taiwan as scheduled on Friday, remains in Brisbane, Australia as of yesterday amid contradicting claims regarding Philip's no-show.
Sources from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Taiwan's Embassy in the Solomon Islands were "unclear" as to why Philip failed to show up in Taipei on Friday.
"He is still in Brisbane now. But I am uncertain about his next move and even they [referring to Solomon Islands officials] are looking for him. We are still trying to understand the overall situation," Teng Pei-yin (鄧備殷), Taiwan's ambassador to the Solomon Islands, told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Sources from the Solomon Islands government, however, said their foreign minister had canceled his scheduled six-day trip to Taipei.
"He's supposed to open the Solomon Islands Embassy in Taipei on Monday, but then somehow he was unable to continue his journey to Taipei. He's waiting for the next flight back to the Solomon Islands," Alfred Maesulia, director of the government communications division in the Solomon Islands, told the Taipei Times.
There is only one weekly flight from Australia to the Solomon Islands, and Philip is scheduled to take the next flight back to his country tomorrow, Maesulia said.
MOFA officials in charge of Pacific region affairs convened an extraordinary meeting yesterday, but attending officials remained tight-lipped over the content of the discussion.
Maesulia quoted another source in the Solomon Islands as saying that Taiwan had sent a diplomatic note to Philip to tell him not to come to Taipei, which led to the cancelation of his trip.
But MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) denied the allegation. "It's impossible that we had sent such a diplomatic note to him, otherwise MOFA would have known. And we had already issued press releases regarding his visit," Chen said.
Chen's counterpart in the Solomon Islands could not be contacted yesterday for further clarification.
According to Philip's original itinerary released by MOFA, the Solomon Islands foreign minister was to preside over the opening ceremony of the country's embassy in Taipei today and to attend Taiwan's national day celebration tomorrow.
Earlier reports said that the South Pacific state is considering switching ties from Taipei to rival Beijing.
But officials from both sides denied that Philip's no-show was a sign that the Solomon Islands was prepared to end its alliance with Taipei and recognize the Beijing government instead.
"These reports regarding Solomon Islands' plan to switch diplomatic ties [from Beijing to Taipei] are simply not true. What I understand is that there has been some misunderstanding between the Republic of China and our government," Maesulia said.
Following the recent change of leadership in the Solomon Islands, in which Manasseh Sogavare took over as prime minister as the result of a coup in June, there has been speculation that the Pacif Island country was planning to switch official diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
But some observers believe the Solomon Islands may be using the issue in a desperate effort to secure more funding from Taiwan to help with the country's rehabilitation plan for the war-torn state.
China has reportedly offered unspecified funds to Sogavare's new government, culminating in a fight with Taiwan to win diplomatic recognition from the Solomon Islands.
DPP Legislator Parris Chang (張旭成) had previously alleged that the Solomons had asked Taipei for US$150 million in exchange for maintenance of ties between the two countries.
But both government officials denied Chang's allegation.
Solomon Islands officials had recently visited Taiwan's MOFA to discuss related aid programs.
In September, Taiwan's deputy minister Wu Tzu-dan (
But Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) has said that Taiwan would not unilaterally shoulder the large financial aid package as proposed by the Solomon Islands government.
Taiwan would only be willing to assist the country under the overall assistance framework drawn up by international organizations and other developed countries such as New Zealand and Australia, Tien said.
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