by Tusi Tala, Staff Writer
The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has altered its final communique to remove a reference to Taiwan, after a senior Chinese diplomat publicly criticized the document. Organizers have blamed the wording on an error.
The group of 18 island nations, along with Australia and New Zealand, convened in Tonga last week. The initial version of the joint statement released early on Friday included a paragraph that โreaffirmed the 1992 Leaders decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China,โ which allows Taipei to have representation at meetings as a โdevelopment partner.โ
China, which has the higher status of a โdialogue partnerโ at the PIF, considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and opposes any statements that it perceives as elevating the self-governed island on the world stage. Beijingโs ambassador to the Pacific, Qian Bo, lashed out at the wording, calling it โa surprising mistakeโ that โmust be corrected.โ
His call was apparently heeded, as the PIF secretariat removed the document from the forumโs website and replaced it with a new version, in which the relevant paragraph was deleted in its entirety. A spokesperson for the organization blamed an error for the incident.
โThe version as finalized does not change nor impact the decisions of the meeting, nor any standing decisions of the forum leaders,โ the statement said. โThe communique is a consensus-based document, reflecting the agreed decisions and views of all [members].โ
Nations in the PIF have conflicting stances on Taiwanโs status. Three โ Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu โ have diplomatic ties with Taipei, while 15 take the side of Beijing.
Taiwanโs de facto autonomy stems from the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, during which nationalist forces retreated to the island, while the communists took control of the mainland.
Taipei has condemned the PIFโs alteration of the language, accusing Beijing of making a โrude and unreasonable interventionโ and โirrational behavior.โ
Kiribati Education Minister Alexander Teabo, who headed his nationโs delegation at the summit, lamented that the issue had marred the event.
โTaiwan and China have their own internal politicsโฆ and now pushing it into the forum,โ he told Radio New Zealand (RNZ).
