The Solomon Islands, one of Taiwan’s remaining allies in the Pacific, is sending a delegation this week to study Chinese aid in neighboring countries as it considers a diplomatic switch to Beijing, lawmaker John Moffat Fugui said on Monday.
The Solomons has recognized Taiwan since 1983 and would be a prized chip should it swap diplomatic ties as China seeks to expand its influence and presence in the Pacific.
A task force set up by Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to review relations with Taiwan would visit the island nations of Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea, which all have formal ties with China.
The tour would include Taipei and Beijing, Fugui, who is chairman of the task force and is to lead the delegation, told reporters.
“We will use their countries as case studies to see the kind of development relations they have, the kind of assistance they get, the conditionalities or lack of conditionalities they might have, the kind of governance,” Fugui said by telephone from the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara.
“We will do due diligence,” he said, adding that the task force report was expected by the end of August and could recommend a middle course.
“It’s not either or, it’s also both,” he said, without elaborating on such a scenario.
The Solomon Islands is among 17 nations to recognize Taiwan.
Although the relationship with Taiwan comes with generous aid payments, the Solomons send two-thirds of its exports to China and is weighing the merits of a change.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) yesterday said that all bilateral projects are running “very smoothly” and communications channels with Honiara are also “very smooth.”
“We have shown our sincerity to continue bilateral projects to the new government,” Lee said. “We continue to demonstrate our will to deepen diplomatic ties.”
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
COGNITIVE WARFARE: An internal security memo said China has launched a propaganda campaign to stir up fear that the US would treat Taiwan as a ‘sacrificial piece’ Taiwan must show it is determined to defend itself no matter who wins the US presidency, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday as the US election campaign entered its final hours. Former US president Donald Trump — the Republican presidential candidate, who was neck and neck in the polls with US Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party — has made comments on the campaign trail that Taiwan should pay to be protected and also accused it of stealing US semiconductor business. Taiwan has faced a sustained military pressure campaign from Beijing over the past five years, including