Voting began yesterday in the tiny Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu in a national election that is being closely watched by Taiwan, China, the US and Australia, amid a tussle for influence in the region.
Tuvalu, with a population of about 11,200 spread across nine islands, has campaigned at international conferences for greater action to help low-lying nations address climate change, because science shows its capital, Funafuti, risks being inundated by tides by 2050.
Most of Tuvalu is forecast to be flooded by high tides by 2100, says the UN Development Programme, which is working with Tuvalu to bolster its coastline.
Photo: AFP
A contest for influence in the Pacific between China and the US has seen Tuvalu courted, with Washington pledging to connect its remote population by undersea cable to global telecommunications for the first time.
Tuvalu is one of three remaining Pacific allies of Taiwan, after Nauru cut ties this month and switched to Beijing, which pledged more development support.
In Taipei on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China was trying to influence the Tuvalu election and “seize our diplomatic allies.”
In Beijing, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contenders for Tuvalu’s leadership have all advocated for climate change action on the world stage, but differ in approaches to ties with Taiwan, a diplomatic ally since 1979.
Tuvaluan Minister of Finance Seve Paeniu, who has secured a seat in the new parliament as one of only two candidates for the Nukulaelae island electorate, said that he expects diplomatic ties with Taiwan to be reviewed after the election.
The new government should decide whether Taiwan or China can best respond to Tuvalu’s development needs, he said.
Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano has told Taiwan he continues to support ties.
Enele Sopoaga, ousted as prime minister by Natano in a 2019 election, and former Tuvaluan minister of foreign affairs Simon Kofe have previously pledged support for Taiwan.
There are no political parties and two lawmakers are to be chosen by voters in each of eight island electorates.
After votes are counted, government boats collect the new lawmakers from islands and take them to the Funafuti, a journey that can take up to 27 hours. The prime minister is chosen by the newly elected lawmakers.
Natano and Kofe are running in the seat of Funafuti.
Kofe attracted global headlines in 2021 when he delivered a speech to the UN climate change summit standing knee deep in water to highlight the plight of the low-lying nation.
Tuvalu in November last year signed a security and migration agreement with Australia that allows Canberra to vet security ties.
Sopoaga has rejected the Australia deal, while Kofe has said some aspects should be revised.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
DEMONSTRATIONS: A protester said although she would normally sit back and wait for the next election, she cannot do it this time, adding that ‘we’ve lost too much already’ Thousands of protesters rallied on Saturday in New York, Washington and other cities across the US for a second major round of demonstrations against US President Donald Trump and his hard-line policies. In New York, people gathered outside the city’s main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans such as: “No Kings in America” and “Resist Tyranny.” Many took aim at Trump’s deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting: “No ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], no fear, immigrants are welcome here.” In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process. The
RSS