China suppressing Taiwan ‘everywhere’, vice president says of PNG pressure
TAIPEI, July 17 (Reuters) – Taiwan faces an extremely difficult diplomatic situation as China puts pressure on the island “everywhere”, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said on Friday, after Papua New Guinea announced that Taipei would close its representative office in the country.
The Pacific has long been an area of diplomatic rivalry between China and Taiwan, with Beijing viewing the region as its own territory without the right to fall into any state trap. The democratically governed island rejects China’s claims to sovereignty.
Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said on Thursday that Taiwan’s office would be closed, drawing praise from Beijing and condemnation from Taipei. Papua New Guinea, like most countries, has official ties only with China and not with Taiwan.
“Our diplomatic situation is really extremely difficult. China is suppressing us everywhere, hindering our chances of survival and expanding our international space,” Hsiao told reporters in Taipei.
“For us, this is a setback, but we will continue to strive, whether it is to strive to capture opportunities for our citizens overseas or to continue to expand our cooperation with the international community.”
Only 12 countries currently maintain official diplomatic ties with Taiwan; three of these are in the Pacific; Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement that it was aware of Papua New Guinea’s statement regarding the closure of the Taiwan office.
The statement said, “We will seek more information about this decision when the time comes,” but no details were included.
Taiwan and Papua New Guinea are members of APEC. Port Moresby hosted the group’s annual leaders’ summit in 2018, which was attended by an envoy from the Taiwanese government.
Papua New Guinea had very short-lived diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1999, and Taiwan also has a representative office in Fiji.
In 2020, a Taiwanese diplomat was hospitalized in Fiji after two Chinese diplomats broke into a reception to gather information about who would be attending.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Neil Fullick)
