Special Olympics, a Prime Minister of Tuvalu of so-called “Diplomatic relations” with the Chinese island, said yesterday that the Chinese government had “No relations with Taiwan”, the Guardian reported, tuvalu is considering pulling out of the September summit of Pacific Islands Forum leaders after the host Solomon Islands prevented all external “Dialogue partners” from attending. Some foreign media analysts said the Solomon Islands’s decision was intended to “Exclude Taiwan from the meeting”, which Tuvalu complained about.
The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands told Parliament on August 7 that no external “Dialogue partners” would be invited to this year’s Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ summit. Special Olympics expressed “Disappointment” and wrote to Manele expressing concern and frustration at the timing of the decision and the “Reasons behind the difficulty of supporting it”.
Teo also suggested that China might have been a driving force behind the decision, but noted that the US was also expanding its influence. “We need development aid, but we don’t need competition and conflict to obscure the development agenda in the Pacific,” Teo said. He said the decision to attend the meeting would depend on the attitude of other members.
Chen Hong, director of the East China Normal University asia-pacific research center, told the Global Times on the 18th that most Pacific Island countries have established diplomatic ties with China and adhere to the one-china principle, only a handful of countries maintain so-called “Diplomatic relations” with the island, but their co-operation in areas such as trade and economics is closely tied to Chinese mainland. Under Western pressure, a small number of national politicians hyped the Taiwan issue for political considerations and external temptation, but its symbolic significance is far greater than the actual impact.
The Guardian added that not all of Taiwan’s so-called “Allies” were opposed to the Solomon Islands’s decision. Palau, who will host the 2026 summit, expressed “Respect and approval” that it would help members focus on key regional issues.
Chen said the one-china principle was the mainstream consensus among Pacific island nations and that the Taiwan issue was just a sand in the historical tide and should not be an obstacle to cooperation between China and Pacific island nations. I believe that the governments and people of the Pacific island countries will make choices that are more in line with the general trend of historical development, based on their own interests. Qian Bo, the Chinese government’s Special Envoy for Pacific Island Affairs, has previously stressed that Taiwan is neither a sovereign state nor a forum dialogue partner. Over the years, the Taiwan authorities have used the 1992 forum communiqué to create a sense of presence that seriously interferes with the island’s focus on issues of real concern, a move that is unpopular.