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YEARS
The turmoil created by China’s efforts to expand its influence in the South Pacific has overshadowed the region’s most important diplomatic summit, with one Pacific island leader explicitly calling for the removal of confirmation of Taiwan’s participation from the meeting’s closing statement, at the behest of Beijing.
Nuku Alofa, Tonga: A stir over China’s efforts to expand its influence in the South Pacific has overshadowed the region’s most important diplomatic summit, with a Pacific island leader explicitly calling for the removal of confirmation of Taiwan’s participation from the meeting’s closing statement at the behest of Beijing. The Pacific Island Forum, a group of 18 island nations plus Australia and New Zealand, on Friday issued a public communique outlining agreements reached between leaders after their week-long annual meeting.
It initially reaffirmed the status of self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, but was removed on Saturday. Officials at the summit in Nuku Alofa, Tonga, did not explain why the statement was changed. But a video posted by a news organization late Sunday showed a Pacific leader assuring China’s special envoy for the Pacific region Qian Bo that the reference to Taiwan would be removed, after Qian had demanded this in his remarks to reporters. The document highlights a tense, largely private regional debate about China’s role in the disputed region that Pacific countries had sought to end publicly before the meeting.
Disclaimer: CricketInFocus has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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