Taiwan calls exclusion from Pacific Islands Forum 'regrettable'

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed disappointment Sunday over the Pacific islands' final decision Thursday to exclude Taiwan and all donor countries from the region's top political meeting this year.

"It is understandable yet regrettable" that the Solomon Islands, the host of this year's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), decided to invite only PIF member countries to focus on PIF internal reform, MOFA said in a statement.

According to MOFA, there are indeed precedents of previous PIF annual leaders' meetings only inviting official PIF members but not partners, such as Taiwan.

This year's exclusion is also not targeted solely at Taiwan, given that all 20-plus donor countries, including China and the United States, have also been excluded from the region's top political meeting set to take place next month, it said.

Still, MOFA called on the PIF to honor an 1992 agreement that gives all PIF partners, including Taiwan, the right to attend the annual PIF Leaders Meeting, it said.

MOFA's comments were made after a PIF Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiji held Thursday in which it was decided after a lengthy debate not to overturn the Solomon Islands' decision to exclude donor countries from the region's top political meeting next month.

Following the meeting, Tongan Foreign Minister Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala told reporters that the PIF foreign ministers had a "robust discussion" over the decision made by Solomon Islands.

"We will engage more closely with partners in the months to come," he was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.

Earlier this month, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele announced to his country's Parliament that the PIF would not invite donor countries.

Only the bloc's 18 members, including Australia and New Zealand, will participate in the 54th PIF Leaders Meeting, scheduled for Sept. 25 in Honiara, Manele told the Parliament, according to a previous Reuters report.

While Manele cited an ongoing review of each country's relationship with the Pacific as the main reason, Reuters cited opposition party politician Peter Kenilorea Jr as saying the issue was "all about China and Taiwan."

There have been reports since last year that the Solomon Islands, which switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in 2019 and is the host country of the 2025 PIF summit, would seek to exclude Taiwan from participation due to China's pressure.

China has poached several of Taiwan's allies in the Pacific as it seeks to expand its presence in the region and isolate Taiwan from the international community.

In response, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong (王小龍) wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) page Friday that Beijing was not to blame.

"To suggest that we have worked to exclude ourselves for the dialogue in the Solomons this coming September just does not stack up," he wrote.

He claimed that Taiwan "does not belong" at the meeting and reiterated Beijing's "One-China principle" that sees Taiwan as part of its territory.

Of the 18 members in the PIF, only three -- the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu -- currently maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Taiwan has been a partner country in PIF mechanisms since 1993 and has also made several donations to the bloc.

The U.S., another partner of the PIF, expressed its disappointment last week over the Solomon Islands' decision not to invite Taiwan and other "dialogue and development partners" to the PIF Leaders Meeting next month.