The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) yesterday issued a communique affirming Taiwan’s participation amid rumors of a push by China and the Solomon Islands to exclude the nation from the inter-governmental organization.
“Leaders at the forum reaffirmed the 1992 Leaders decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China,” the PIF said.
The statement came following a report in the Australian newspaper on Monday, which said the Solomon Islands would submit a motion at this year’s summit in Tonga to strip Taiwan of its “development partner” status, which it has held since 1993.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper said that the Solomon Islands received explicit instructions from Beijing to block Taiwan’s attendance at next year’s summit in Honiara.
Nonmembers China, the US, Japan, Canada and the EU also participate in the annual forum and other PIF events as “dialogue partners.”
Since abandoning its long-held diplomatic recognition of Taipei in 2019, the Solomon Islands has become a staunch regional ally of China, receiving significant development aid and striking a secretive bilateral security pact in 2022.
Based on the PIF’s charter, motions are decided by verbal consensus among the group’s 18 member nations, which include Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.
During the Tonga summit, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he supports Taiwan’s status in the PIF and any decision to exclude parties from regional forums should be made via a consensus.
When asked by the Central News Agency if Washington has plans to support Taiwan in securing its status in the PIF, the US Department of State responded via e-mail that it supports Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
“Taiwan is a highly capable, engaged, democratic and responsible member of the global community,” a department spokesperson said, adding that countries around the world “stand to benefit from Taiwan’s expertise to address some of today’s most difficult global challenges.”
“We [the US] will continue to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations,” the spokesperson said.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS