Vanuatu's newly installed Prime Minister Ham Lini yesterday said his government no longer has official relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan's diplomats left the country on Tuesday night.
In a letter dated Dec. 13 to Chinese ambassador Bao Shusheng (鮑樹生) in Port Vila, Lini said the decision of his predecessor, Serge Vohor, to establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan had gone close to fracturing the relations which Vanuatu had long enjoyed with Beijing.
"I would like to apologize to you and the government of the People's Republic of China on behalf of the Vanuatu government and the people of Vanuatu for the events in the past two weeks that nearly destroyed the friendly relations our two countries have enjoyed for over 20 years," Lini said.
Following receipt of the letter, China immediately released US$2 million to the Vanuatu government for education that had been suspended during Vohor's term as prime minister.
In his letter, Lini confirmed Vanuatu had revoked ties with Taiwan and would adhere to the "one China" policy.
"The current government under my leadership adheres to and respects the `one China' policy," he said.
"The government of Vanuatu has revoked all agreements signed by Mr. Serge Vohor with Taiwan on 3rd November and will commit itself not to have any official relationship with Taiwan in the future," Lini added.
In a statement to the media, Lini said that following the formation of the new government in the early hours of Saturday morning, an urgent Council of Ministers meeting was held on Sunday in which the decision was formally made on the matter.
"We look forward to rebuilding and strengthening the historical friendly relations and cooperation between both countries in the interests of peace and both countries' mutual benefits at regional and international level," he said.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (
"In practice, Vanuatu's foreign ministry has to give us a diplomatic note to inform us of the abolition of official relations. We haven't received the note yet. Before that, the ties remain valid," Lu said.
The ministry will not give up relations with Vanuatu, Lu said, noting many members of parliament supported Vohor's decision to establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
"It is still possible that our dip-lomats will return to Vanuatu. Their departure does not mean the end of our communication with Vohor and other Taiwan-friendly officials in Vanuatu. We are keeping in touch with members of the new government and the foreign ministry," Lu said.
Lu added that prior to the Taiwanese diplomats' departure, China's embassy in Vanuatu notified all of the countries' airlines, demanding that they prevent all Taiwanese nationals from leaving the country.
"Fortunately, our diplomats there obtained information about China's maneuver in advance and managed to leave in time," Lu said, when asked to explain why the ministry decided to instruct the diplomats to fly to Fiji.
With the country's brief official relationship with Vanuatu drawing to an end, the ministry is now keeping a close eye on developments in Haiti.
China's ambassador to the UN, Wang Guangya (
Wang is scheduled to meet with Haiti's interim president Boniface Alexander, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, and other officials.
The peacekeepers raised China's flag at their base, said Hsieh Hsin-ping (謝新平), Taiwan's ambassador to Haiti. It is "a normal practice" for UN peacekeeping troops to raise their national flags in countries where they are posted, Lu said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS