In Nuku’alofa, a revised joint declaration from Pacific leaders was released on Saturday morning with references to Taiwan removed, following objections from China to an earlier version.
The updated communique, released after five days of discussions in Tonga, initially reaffirmed a 30-year-old agreement allowing Taiwan’s participation in the Pacific Islands Forum. However, the inclusion of this statement provoked a strong reaction from Chinese diplomats, who demanded a correction.
China’s special envoy to the Pacific islands, Qian Bo, described the mention of Taiwan as a “mistake” that needed rectifying. He expressed surprise at the oversight and indicated that he had contacted the forum’s secretariat to address the issue.
The original communique had included a paragraph titled “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China,” which reaffirmed a 1992 decision supporting Taiwan’s role in the forum. This was subsequently removed in the reissued communique, which did not provide an explanation for the change.
China, which opposes Taiwan’s international presence and seeks to isolate the self-governing island, has been lobbying to remove Taiwan’s “development partner” status with the Pacific Islands Forum. Solomon Islands, a key Chinese ally in the South Pacific, has supported this position.
A New Zealand foreign ministry spokesperson noted that there had been no consensus among the leaders on the contested paragraph.
