A joint declaration by Pacific leaders was reissued yesterday morning with mentions of Taiwan removed after China slammed an earlier version as a “mistake” that “must be corrected.”
After five days of talks in Tonga, a “cleared” communique was released on Friday that reaffirmed a 30-year-old agreement allowing Taiwan to take part in the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). However, the wording immediately raised the ire of Chinese diplomats, who piled pressure on Pacific leaders to amend the document.
The forum reissued the communique without explanation yesterday morning, conspicuously deleting the paragraph concerning the bloc’s “relations with Taiwan.”
Photo: AFP
“It must be a mistake. It must be a mistake,” Chinese Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries Affairs Qian Bo (錢波) said on Friday. “This is a surprising mistake made by someone. I’m not sure, but I think it must be corrected.”
Qian earlier said he had contacted the bloc’s secretariat in the hope of clarifying the situation.
“This should not be the final communique, there must be a correction on the text,” he said.
The original paragraph — titled “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China” — said leaders had “reaffirmed” the 1992 decision that paved the way for Taiwan’s participation in the forum. Beijing has aggressively sought to exclude Taiwan from international bodies and rejects its autonomy. The Solomon Islands, China’s main partner in the South Pacific, has lobbied for Taiwan to be stripped of its “development partner” status with the PIF.
A spokesperson from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday said that there had not been a consensus on the paragraph in question.
“There are a range of views among the 18 Pacific Islands Forum members and part of the Pacific way is respect for different views and the importance of consensus,” the spokesperson added in a statement.
A PIF spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed anger at China’s actions.
“Taiwan condemns China’s rude and unreasonable intervention and irrational behavior that undermines regional peace and stability and calls on all like-minded countries to pay close attention to China’s actions,” it said in a statement.
However, the ministry also said that the joint communique as published did not undermine Taiwan’s status at the forum nor preclude it from participating in the future.
The South Pacific was once seen as a bastion of support for Taiwan’s claim to statehood, but China has methodically whittled this down.
In the past five years, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Nauru have all been persuaded to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
Beijing insists its diplomatic allies withdraw recognition of Taiwan.
Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei, but face constant pressure to change.
US territories Guam and American Samoa were also elevated to associate members of the forum, against the wishes of the Solomon Islands.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS