Taiwan this week welcomed a senior Fijian diplomat who met with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) — a highly unusual trip, given that the Pacific island state has formal relations with Beijing.
The Presidential Office late on Wednesday said that Filipo Tarakinikini, Fiji’s permanent representative to the UN — of which Taiwan is not a member — had met with Hsiao as part of a delegation of other UN ambassadors, including from the Marshall Islands and Paraguay, which are Taiwanese allies.
Hsiao expressed “heartfelt thanks to the permanent representatives, as friends of Taiwan, for their long-standing support and assistance, which have helped Taiwan play a meaningful role in the international system, especially within the United Nations system,” the office cited her as saying.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Tarakinikini also met and had dinner with Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a separate statement.
In Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) said that the visit severely violated Fiji’s commitment to the “one China” principle, which states that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are part of “one country.”
“China expresses its strong dissatisfaction with this and has lodged a solemn representation with Fiji. The despicable actions of the Taiwan authorities will not succeed,” she added.
Tarakinikini and the Fijian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation did not respond to requests for comment.
In July, Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said his country was opposed to China setting up a military base in the Pacific Islands, adding that it did not need such a base to project power, as shown by an intercontinental ballistic missile test last year in the region.
Strategically placed between the US and Asia, the Pacific islands are a focus of rivalry between Washington and Beijing for security ties.
Of the 12 countries with formal ties to Taiwan, three are Pacific islands states — Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
However, Taiwan does maintain a de facto embassy in Fiji.
In 2020, Taipei said that one of its diplomats was hospitalized in Fiji after two Chinese diplomats attempted to enter a reception and gather information on attendees. China denied the account.
In 2005, then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited Fiji on a transit stop during a Pacific tour, although he did not meet with government officials.
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