Taiwan to Attend Pacific Islands Forum as US, China Seek to Strengthen Connections in Region

Tien Chung-kwang, Taiwan's deputy minister of foreign affairs, speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 15, 2024. Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images

Taiwan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang will attend the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Tonga, the ministry said on Aug. 25, following the U.S. State Department’s announcement that Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell would attend the forum to promote U.S.–Pacific strategic partnership goals.

PIF is composed of 18 member nations: Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Its next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 26 to Aug. 30.

In this region of the Pacific, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been advancing its connections economically, while in other areas it has increased its military presence and aggression, prompting the United States to prioritize keeping the peace. These Pacific island nations could offer a strategic advantage to either China or the United States, as they form a chain that historically held military bases for Western nations and could aid or slow the United States in reaching nations such as Taiwan and the Philippines where the Chinese military has advanced.

The nations are divided on Taiwan, with some maintaining formal diplomatic relations and others deferring to the CCP’s demands that they not recognize Taiwan.

Tien said he would be holding a summit with allies Palau, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, and other “like-minded countries” at the forum.

Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. recently told the Associated Press that the CCP has made efforts to cut off tourism to the island nation after he refused to cut ties with Taiwan. Palau has declined to give in to CCP interests over the years, with Whipps saying that the small island nations “want to live in a free and open Indo-Pacific where there’s a respect for the rule of law” after urging neighbors to reject a sweeping security and economic deal that the CCP proposed in 2022.

Not all Pacific island nations have taken this stance.

Early this year, Nauru announced that it was cutting ties with Taiwan and reconnecting with China as part of its development strategy. Tonga, host nation to this year’s forum, is heavily indebted to China, and Vanuatu this year joined the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative. The Solomon Islands has accepted millions in aid from the CCP, with new Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele refusing to inform the nation’s Parliament whether the money was a gift or loan. The previous prime minister had a pro-Beijing stance and ended the nation’s recognition of Taiwan in 2019.

Leaders of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea last year skipped the PIF amid discussions of the CCP’s tightening its hold on the area. Meanwhile, several Pacific island leaders have traveled to China this year to visit with high-ranking CCP officials, including those of Vanuatu and the Federated States of Micronesia, whose former leader revealed that CCP officials had attempted to buy his support.

Besides the United States, Australia has taken on the role of advancing Western interests in the area and countering Chinese espionage and attacks. Last year, Australia inked a security deal with Papua New Guinea to counter the CCP’s offers after the island nation met with CCP leaders, and it has pledged to help the Solomon Islands develop its security force.

Reuters contributed to this report.