Self-ruled Taiwan – which Beijing claims as its territory – also called on “all like-minded countries to closely monitor China’s actions.” File. | Photo credit: AP
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday (August 31, 2024) accused China of “arbitrary interference.” Joint Declaration by Pacific Leaders Changed to remove mention of Taiwan.
“Taiwan strongly condemns China’s arbitrary interference and unreasonable actions that undermine regional peace and stability,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Self-governed Taiwan – which China claims as its territory – also called on “all like-minded countries to closely monitor China’s actions” to safeguard the “harmony and stable development of Pacific island countries”.
The response came after the Pacific leaders reissued a statement that removed mention of Taiwan. China had earlier criticised the earlier statement as a “mistake” that “needs to be corrected.”
An “approval” communiqué was issued on Friday after five days of talks in Tonga, reaffirming a 30-year-old agreement that allows Taiwan to participate in the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
But the term immediately sparked outrage from Chinese diplomats, who pressured Pacific leaders to amend the document.
The forum reissued the release on Saturday morning without any explanation, conspicuously removing the paragraph about the regional bloc’s “relations with Taiwan.”
Neither the PIF nor Chinese authorities responded to requests for comment on Saturday.
China’s special envoy for the Pacific Islands, Qian Bo, told reporters on Friday that the mention of Taiwan was “a surprising mistake by someone,” and later stressed that it “must be corrected.”
Qian had earlier said he had contacted the bloc’s secretariat in the hope of clarifying the situation.
The original paragraph — titled “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China” — said the leaders “reaffirmed” the 1992 decision that paved the way for Taiwan’s participation in the forum.
Beijing has aggressively sought to exclude Taiwan, a self-governing island of more than 23 million people, from international bodies and rejects its autonomy.
‘Pacific Way’
The South Pacific region was once considered a bastion of support for Taiwan’s statehood claim, but has been systematically eroded by China.
Over the past five years the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Nauru have been persuaded to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
Beijing has been pressuring its diplomatic allies to withdraw recognition of the self-governing island.
Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei, but face increasing pressure to change.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it had contacted its three Pacific allies “to actively communicate with the PIF secretariat” to uphold the clause.
“But the final decision was made by member states to use the spirit of diversity and inclusion of the ‘Pacific Way’ based on the opinions of all parties and publish a joint communiqué by consensus,” a Taiwanese spokesman said.
“This release does not harm our country’s position in the Pacific Islands Forum, or eliminate our rights to participate in the Pacific Islands Forum in the future.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanks our partners and like-minded countries for their support for our continued participation in the PIF.”
The Solomon Islands, China’s main partner in the South Pacific, has lobbied to strip Taiwan of its “development partner” status with the PIF.
Against the wishes of the Solomon Islands, the US territories Guam and American Samoa were made associate members of the forum.
The New Zealand Foreign Ministry has confirmed this. AFP Consensus was not reached on the paragraph about Taiwan.
“There is a diversity of views among the 18 Pacific Islands Forum members and part of the ‘Pacific Way’ is respect for diversity of views and the importance of building consensus,” a spokesperson said in a statement.