Geopolitical rivalry becomes focus at Pacific Islands Forum summit 2024

 Direct translation

Pacific Island Countries Summit held, geopolitical rivalry becomes focus

Reporter : Li Haoyue / Editor : Ren Zijun / https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/24/8/26/n14318229.htm / Image : On 26 August 2024, Tongan Crown Prince Tupto A. Ulukalala (center left), United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (centre right) and leaders of various countries attended the Pacific Islands Summit in Nuku'alofa forum. (Mary Lyn Fonua/AFP via Getty Images)

On Monday (26 August 2024), the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) was held in Nuku'alofa, the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga. A five-day summit was held. In order to curb the CCP’s expansion ambitions in this strategically important region, the United States will further seek to strengthen its partnership with the region.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell represented the United States at the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum summit. Campbell has been one of the key figures in Washington's efforts to curb China's ambitions in the Pacific.

This year's PIF will discuss the "multiple crises" facing the Pacific region, which is regarded as the "maritime backyard" of the United States, but the Chinese Communist Party is expanding step by step in the region.

In February this year, the United States warned Pacific island countries not to accept "assistance" from Chinese security forces after Chinese police began operating in Kiribati, a remote atoll country near Hawaii.

The U.S. State Department disclosed in a statement that Campbell will discuss the U.S. Pacific Partnership strategy to be launched in 2022 with leaders of Pacific island countries during the meeting. In the last forum, the United States strengthened its influence in the region through strategies such as providing financial assistance, increasing investment and trade exchanges, signing bilateral agreements, and reopening embassies in Kiribati, Tonga, and the Solomon Islands.

CCP China continues to engage in diplomatic wrestling with Taiwan in the Pacific region

Pacific island countries are also an area where the CCP continues to work to reduce the number of diplomatic allies of Taiwan. Taiwan, the Republic of China, currently has 12 formal diplomatic allies, including three Pacific island countries - Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.

Taiwanese media quoted a report from The Australian that Solomon Islands stated at the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Suva, Fiji, on 9 August 2024 that it would submit a motion this week to question Taiwan’s participation in the forum. .

Since 1993, Taiwan has participated in the forum and related activities as a "development partner" under the name "Republic of China/Taiwan".

The report quoted an anonymous source familiar with the Pacific island nation's foreign affairs as saying that Solomon Islands was acting on clear instructions from Beijing to prevent Taiwan from participating in a forum to be held in Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands, next year.

The source said that the Chinese authorities are lobbying all member states to support the motion but that motion may be considered a threat to the unity of the Pacific island countries and may not be approved.

The Solomon Islands are only 1,600 kilometers northeast of Australia and have important strategic significance. Chinese Communist police have been deployed to the country since 2022, a move that has sparked concerns about security in the region from the United States and Australia, which have criticized Solomon Islands' secretive security deal with CCP China as destabilizing the region.

The report quoted a spokesperson from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as saying that the Australian government values ​​continued cooperation with all development partners in the Pacific region, including Taiwan.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday (25 August 2024) that Taiwan's Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Tan Chung-kuang, has led a delegation to Tonga to attend forum activities and is interacting with Pacific allies during the summit.