NUKU’ALOFA: A joint declaration by Pacific leaders was reissued on Saturday morning with mentions of Taiwan removed after China slammed an earlier version as a “mistake” that “must be corrected”.

After five days of talks in Tonga, a “cleared” communique was released on Friday that reaffirmed a 30-year-old agreement allowing Taiwan to take part in the Pacific Islands Forum. But the wording immediately raised the ire of Chinese diplomats, who piled pressure on Pacific leaders to amend the document.

The forum reissued the communique without explanation, conspicuously deleting the paragraph concerning the bloc’s “relations with Taiwan”. “It must be a mistake. It must be a mistake,” China’s special envoy to the Pacific islands, Qian Bo, told reporters on Friday.

“This is a surprising mistake made by someone. I’m not sure, but I think it must be corrected.” Qian earlier said he had contacted the bloc’s secretariat in the hope of clarifying the situation.

“This should not be the final communique, there must be a correction on the text.” The original paragraph — titled “Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China” — said leaders had “reaffirmed” the 1992 decision that paved the way for Taiwan’s participation in the forum.

Beijing has sought to exclude Taiwan — a self-governing island of more than 23 million people — from international bodies and rejects its autonomy. Solomon Islands, China’s main partner in the South Pacific, has lobbied for Taiwan to be stripped of its “development partner” status with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

A spokesperson from New Zealand’s foreign ministry said there had not been a consensus on the paragraph in question.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024