Foreign minister thanks Palau for PIF summit arrangements

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Tuesday thanked Palau for enabling him to make a rare appearance at a major annual political gathering of Pacific nations on Monday, despite Taiwan not being an official member of the bloc.

"I am very happy to be able to participate in this year's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and I have to give special thanks to the host country Palau for the arrangement," Lin was quoted as saying in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) statement given to CNA on Tuesday.

Lin did not elaborate on the nature of the arrangement, saying only that Taiwan was honored to be a partner in the Pacific and would continue to work with its partners to promote greater prosperity and peace across the region.

According to an Australia-based ABC report on Monday, Lin attended the opening ceremony of the 55th PIF Leaders Meeting, which is being held in Koror from Aug. 30 to Sept. 4.

Although Taiwan is not a PIF member, it has been a "development partner" of the forum since 1993.

Taiwan typically holds the Taiwan/Republic of China-Forum Countries Dialogue and other side events in conjunction with the PIF's annual summit, but rarely attends the forum's official meetings.

China's Pacific envoy Qian Bo expressed Beijing's opposition to Lin's presence, telling reporters that China had "serious concerns" about the space being given to Taiwan, according to the ABC report.

"Taiwan is not a dialogue partner with the forum so we have serious concerns," Qian was quoted as saying, referring to the standard official designation for countries that are not PIF members.

"We have made our position very clear to the government of Palau and the secretariat."

Taiwan and other non-members of the bloc were barred from participating in last year's PIF summit, which was held in the Solomon Islands and attended only by the forum's 18 member states.

Partner countries including China, the United States and Taiwan did not take part after the host nation barred them from attending, citing an ongoing review of the forum's partnership arrangements.

Media reports at the time suggested that the Solomon Islands, which switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019, sought to block Taiwan's participation under pressure from Beijing.

China has sought to expand its presence in the Pacific while further isolating Taiwan internationally, including by persuading several of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the region to switch recognition to Beijing.

Only three of the PIF's 18 member states maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan -- Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.