US Knew Nauru Considered Switching Diplomatic Ties From Taiwan to China Before It Happened: US Official

The Department of State building in Washington on Nov. 13, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The United States was aware that Nauru was contemplating dropping diplomatic ties with Taiwan before the Pacific nation formalized the decision in January, according to a top State Department official.

Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 14 that China’s communist regime “has moved aggressively to assert itself in the Pacific Islands” through foreign assistance, elite capture, and a “robust public messaging campaign.”

As evidence of the regime’s aggressiveness, Mr. Kritenbrink noted that three Pacific Island countries—the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Nauru—have switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in recent years.

The timing of Nauru’s diplomatic switch is significant, as it happened just days after Taiwan held a presidential election in which Taiwanese voters chose to keep the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in power for another four years. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees the DPP as “secessionist,” a party whose agendas are roadblocks to its territorial ambition of seizing the self-ruled island.

Mr. Kritenbrink told lawmakers that Nauru’s decision was not a surprise.

“We had known for some time that there were concerns in Nauru, and we were working with partners to meet those,” he said. “But in this instance, they decided to flip.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called Nauru’s diplomatic decision a “disappointing one” in a January statement and urged all countries to “expand engagement with Taiwan.”

“Our message to Nauru and then to the three remaining partners of Taiwan in the region is again: Countries ought to be careful and clear-eyed about entering in these arrangements with China,” Mr. Kritenbrink said. “China often makes many promises that remain unfulfilled, and that can have negative consequences.”

Nauru is one of 10 countries that have decided to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan since 2016. Others include Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the Solomon Islands, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

Currently, Taiwan has 12 diplomatic allies, including three Pacific nations: the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and Tuvalu.

The United States is working “very carefully and closely“ with Taiwan’s three remaining Pacific allies ”to make sure their needs are met,” according to Mr. Kritenbrink.

“We try to close off any opportunities that China could exploit,” he said.

Pacific Island Nations

The Solomon Islands ended its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan in September 2019. Before then, the two sides had been diplomatic allies for 36 years.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Solomon Islands have been facing new problems since its diplomatic switch.

“Since the Solomon Islands changed their recognition from Taiwan to China, PRC nationals have moved to the islands, flooding the market with low-cost goods, extracting timber and fish and other resources, bringing in tourism practices that threaten the natural environment, in some cases, setting up transnational criminal operations that evade the limited capacity of local law enforcement,” Mr. Cardin said.

PRC is the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

In 2022, the Solomon Islands and China signed a security agreement. Last year, the two sides inked another deal on police cooperation to boost their bilateral ties.

Mr. Kritenbrink called China’s policing agreements “opaque” and “deeply concerning.”

China is aiming to sign more security agreements with Pacific nations, according to Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Papua New Guinea, which just signed a new security pact with us last year, has been approached by China about a new security and policing arrangement. Chinese police are present in Kiribati, and we know China has set its sights on other nations,” Mr. Risch said.

In May 2023, the United States and Papua New Guinea (PNG) signed a defense cooperation agreement.

“[The agreement] will form the foundational framework around which our two countries will enhance security cooperation, further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defence Force, and increase stability and security in the region,” The State Department said.

The United States will open an embassy in Vanuatu imminently, according to Mr. Kritenbrink.

“We’ve identified four countries in which we want to establish new embassies. We’ve successfully done so in the Solomon Islands and in Tonga. We will be open imminently in Vanuatu,” he said.

“We’re working diligently to follow up on Kiribati, and we'll need parliamentary approval for that.”

The U.S. Embassy in the Solomon Islands opened in February 2023, and the one in Tonga opened three months later. The moves are part of the Pacific Islands Embassy Act, a 2022 law aimed at countering the CCP through increased U.S. diplomatic presence in the Pacific.

“The Pacific Islands face significant challenges to their security and prosperity, including from climate change and economic shocks, making the region more vulnerable to influence from the PRC,” Mr. Kritenbrink said.

“As Secretary [Antony] Blinken has said, the PRC is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it. That certainly holds true in the Pacific.”