TAIPEI: The Solomon Islands’ government has cut official ties with Taiwan in a new blow to President Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking re-election in January amid rising tension with China.
Taiwan now has formal relations with only 16 countries worldwide, but China claims Taiwan as its territory and says it has no right to formal ties with any nation.
Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, told reporters in Taipei late on Monday that it would immediately close down its embassy in the Solomon Islands and recall all of its diplomats.
Wu said China was aiming to meddle with Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections in January with “dollar diplomacy.”
“The Chinese government attacked Taiwan purposely before our presidential and legislative elections, obviously aiming to meddle with the voting. The government strongly condemns this and urges people to hold on to its sovereignty and the value of freedom and democracy,” Wu said.
“Taiwan has never bowed to pressure from one single setback, and it won’t be defeated by this blow,” Wu said, urging support from allies in the region to defend Taiwan’s much-valued freedom and democracy.
Solomon Islands is the sixth country Taiwan will lose as a diplomatic ally since Tsai came to office in 2016 — following Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Panama and El Salvador.
Tsai, who’s facing an uphill battle in January’s vote, has been criticized over her handling of Beijing, who suspects of her pushing for Taiwan’s formal independence.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move came after the Solomon Islands’ months-long review of the pros and cons of a switch to Beijing, which was offering $8.5 million in development funds to replace support from Taiwan.
The Solomons Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to questions.
A switch in allegiance would be a prize for Beijing in its campaign to secure allies from Taiwan.
Taiwan vowed to fight China’s “increasingly out of control” behavior after El Salvador switched its allegiance to Beijing last year.
Soloman Islands breaks ties with Taiwan after Chinese ‘dollar diplomacy’
Soloman Islands breaks ties with Taiwan after Chinese ‘dollar diplomacy’
- Taiwan now has formal relations with only 16 countries worldwide, but China claims Taiwan as its territory and says it has no right to formal ties with any nation
- The Solomons is the sixth ally Taiwan has lost since Tsai came to office in 2016 — following Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Panama and El Salvador
‘Unofficial’ talks on plastic pollution treaty to begin in Japan
- “Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone: every country, every community and every individual,” Cordano warned after being elected
TOKYO: Delegates from around 20 countries will hold three days of “informal” talks in Japan from Sunday aimed at salvaging efforts toward a landmark global treaty on plastic pollution.
Supposedly final talks in South Korea in 2024 toward an agreement failed, and a renewed effort in Geneva last August likewise collapsed in overtime.
A Japanese Environment Ministry official said that the “informal” closed-door meeting among “working-level officials” through Tuesday was not expected to result in any official announcement.
If we don’t take concerted action, it will get much worse in the coming decades. A treaty is urgently needed.
Julio Cordano, Chile’s chief climate negotiator
“Japan is in a position of pushing for progress on the issue, and so is hosting the meeting,” the official told AFP without wishing to be named.
She added that “little progress” has been made since August, other than the election in early February of Chile’s chief climate negotiator Julio Cordano as chairman.
“Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone: every country, every community and every individual,” Cordano warned after being elected.
“If we don’t take concerted action, it will get much worse in the coming decades. A treaty is urgently needed,” he said.
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, with half for single-use items.
A large bloc of states wants bold action such as curbing plastic production, while a smaller clutch of oil-producing states wants to focus more narrowly on waste management.
Countries expected to be present in Tokyo include big oil producers like Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States as well as islands states Antigua and Barbuda and Palau, plus China, India and the European Union.
The UN’s environment chief told AFP in an interview in October that a global treaty remains “totally doable.”
“No one has walked away and said, ‘this is just too hopeless, we’re giving up’,” United Nations Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen said.
