China’s ambassador to the Pacific has responded furiously after the region’s leaders rejected a push from Solomon Islands to stop Taiwan participating in its top diplomatic gathering.
Pacific leaders have also formally endorsed a major new policing pact championed by Australia, as well as signing off on the terms for a high-level mission to the troubled Pacific territory of New Caledonia.
Solomon Islands had been pressing other Pacific nations to strip Taiwan of its status as a “development partner” for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), with its foreign minister Peter Shanel saying this week that Taiwan was “not a sovereign country” and PIF should “follow international law”.
Pacific leaders gathered in Tonga for the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum this week. (AP: Charlotte Graham-McLay)
But reopening a debate over Taiwan — which still maintains three diplomatic allies in the Pacific — risks opening a new fissure in the forum, and the final communique issued by leaders makes it clear the organisation will stick with a 1992 agreement which maintains the status quo.
But China’s ambassador to the Pacific nations, Qian Bo, said the final communique “must be a mistake”.
“The situation is obvious, among the 18 members of the PIF, 15 countries have diplomatic relations with China and 15 countries have categorically stated they stand by the One China principle,” he told reporters after the meeting.
“So this is a surprising mistake made by someone, I’m not sure [who] but I think it must be corrected!”
The ambassador suggested that he was also blindsided by the reference to Taiwan and China in the final communique.
“Surprisingly we also learned there is language concerning [Taiwan and China] … this should not be the final communique, there must be a correction on the text,” he said.
“We have already talked to the secretariat and to the [secretary-general] and other delegations where we have received wide understanding and support.”
China’s ambassador to the Pacific nations Qian Bo, pictured here with Tonga’s prime minister Siaosi Sovaleni in 2023, said the final communique of the Pacific Islands Forum should be “corrected”. (Facebook: Tonga PM Press)
The ABC has contacted the forum secretariat for comment.
Anna Powles from Massey University told the ABC that China had been pressuring the PIF to adopt the One China Policy.
“This has been resisted on the basis that not all PIF members recognise China,” she said.
“China’s challenge to the PIF-led regional architecture is disruptive and at clear odds with Pacific calls for cooperation.”
Dr Powles said China’s stance contradicted its statements supporting Fiji’s proposed concept of an “Ocean of Peace” in the Pacific, and that its push for PIF to cut off Taiwan was a “clear wedge strategy with the intention to disrupt and divide”.
Leaders back policing plan
The controversy comes as the Pacific Islands Forum has wrapped up in Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa, with leaders returning from their retreat on the idyllic island of Vava’u.
Pacific leaders gathered for a retreat on Vava’u in Tonga’s north this week. (AFP: Tupou Vaipulu)
Australian officials were pleased when leaders unanimously endorsed the Pacific Policing Initiative (PPI), despite a note of caution raised by Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, who warned it shouldn’t be used to further the strategic aims of “larger” partners — a clear reference to Australia and New Zealand.
The Australia-funded $400 million plan will establish a new Pacific police training centre in Brisbane, as well as four skills centres across the Pacific, and a rotational police force which could be deployed to regional countries to help them manage either crises or major events.
The final leaders communique, released on Friday, firmly backed the initiative but “also noted the need for further national consultation on how members engage with the PPI”.
The document said Pacific police chiefs would now develop an implementation plan for the initiative which would “take into account the outcomes of the national consultations”.
Tonga’s prime minister, Siaosi Sovaleni, told reporters that the police chiefs were not undertaking a root and branch review of the proposal but simply working out the best way to turn it into a reality.
Leaders also backed a high level Pacific mission to New Caledonia after officials from France, New Caledonia and the Pacific reached an agreement on “terms of reference” for the visit.
Mr Sovaleni said he and the prime ministers of Fiji, Cook Islands and Solomon Islands would travel soon to the territory, which was roiled by chaos and rioting earlier this year.
He said the delegation would attempt to “better understand” the situation on the ground, as well as promoting dialogue and “support the ongoing efforts to call for peace and stability”.
He also said the delegation would then provide “clear directions” to the forum about whatever next steps it could take.
