PACIFIC-FORUM/ (UPDATE 1): Following a complaint from China, leaders in the Pacific remove Taiwan from the communiqué.
Sydney, – The Pacific Islands Forum has omitted all mention of Taiwan from a statement released on Friday following the annual leaders’ conference in the region. This comes after China’s envoy voiced concerns over what the Taipei administration called a “rude intervention.”
The group of eighteen countries consists of three members who maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan and fifteen members who acknowledge China as a significant infrastructure donor to Pacific Island nations where Beijing is attempting to bolster its security posture.
Taiwan, an island nation with democratic governance, vehemently disagrees with China’s assertion that it is one of its provinces and has no right to engage in state-to-state dealings.
The forum’s website published a communiqué on Friday that stated, in part, “Leaders reaffirmed the 1992 Leaders decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China” under the heading “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China.”
After receiving a sharp backlash from China, the communiqué was taken off from the website on Friday night. The references to Taiwan were replaced with a new document that was uploaded on Saturday morning.
A request for comment from Reuters was not answered by the forum’s secretariat.
The foreign ministry of Taiwan voiced outrage over China’s activities.
“Taiwan condemns China’s rude and unreasonable intervention and irrational behaviour that undermines regional peace and stability and calls on all like-minded countries to pay close attention to China’s actions,” it stated in a statement.
The ministry did point out that Taiwan’s standing at the forum was unaffected by the joint communiqué as it was released, and that Taiwan was still free to participate going forward.
Taiwan, a development partner of the forum since 1993, dispatched its deputy foreign minister, Tien Chung-kwang, to meet with its three Pacific allies, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu, in Tonga.