US Vice President Mike Pence has canceled plans to meet the prime minister of the Solomon Islands to discuss development partnerships after the Pacific island cut ties with Taiwan in favor of China this week, a senior US official said on Tuesday.
The Solomon Islands was the sixth nation to switch allegiance to China since 2016. Taiwan has accused China of trying to meddle in its presidential and legislative elections next year.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare had asked Pence in July for a meeting, the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Photo: AP
The meeting was to have taken place this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City, or afterward in Washington.
“But the decision by the Solomon Islands to change its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China has consequences. They’re hurting a historically strong relationship by doing this,” the US official said. “It’s a setback and it’s prioritizing short-term gain with China over long-term commitment with the US.”
The US has a fraught relationship with China over trade, defense and technology issues, while the administration of US President Donald Trump is also considering confronting Beijing over its detention of an estimated 1 million Muslims in Xinjiang at next week’s UN meeting.
Pence has criticized China for what he calls “debt-trap” lending practices to small nations, pushing them into debt and compromising their sovereignty.
China denies those charges.
“Countries that establish closer ties to China primarily out of the hope or expectation that such a step will stimulate economic growth and infrastructure development often find themselves worse off in the long run,” the US official said.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the US has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations when it comes to their relations with China, adding that the US also has no formal ties with Taiwan.
If the US really cares about Pacific island nations, it should do more to help them improve their economies and people’s lives, and not “brandish the stick of sanctions” at them, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) told reporters.
Taiwan has accused China of trying to lure away its allies with offers of cheap loans and other financial inducements.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday posted on Facebook messages from Solomon Islanders lamenting their nation’s decision to abandon Taiwan.
“The people of the Solomon Islands continue to leave us comments expressing their gratitude to the technical mission and the medical team, which have been working to help the local people there for years,” the ministry said. “Taiwan provides aid by bringing better lives to the local people directly and we don’t leave a debt trap in our wake, and this is the Taiwan model.”
China had offered US$8.5 million of development funds to the Solomon Islands ahead of its decision.
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 —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat