US, China barred from attending top Pacific political forum
China's biggest security ally in the Pacific Islands, Solomon Islands is hosting the annual meeting of the 18-member bloc's forum in September.
Three Pacific island states have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China, and they had expressed concern Taiwanese officials would be blocked from entering the country. Solomon Islands switched ties from Taiwan to China in 2019, and in April removed Taiwan from a list of countries eligible for concessional entry.
Beijing, which has deepened its ties in the Pacific, claims Taiwan as its own territory.
Manele told the Solomon Islands parliament during the week that his cabinet had decided no dialogue partners would be invited to this year's event because a review of each country's relationship with the Pacific hadn't been completed.
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He said he had informed the forum's 18 leaders of the decision this week.
The World Bank, Asia Development Bank and civil society groups would attend, he added.
A US State Department spokesperson said the US was 'disappointed by reports that Solomon Islands has decided to exclude dialogue and development partners from the PIF Leaders Meeting this year,' referring to the Pacific Island Forum.
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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
US, China barred from attending top Pacific political forum
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has said that 21 donor countries – including the United States and China – would not be invited to the Pacific region's top political meeting, a move that follows pressure from Beijing to exclude Taiwan. China's biggest security ally in the Pacific Islands, Solomon Islands is hosting the annual meeting of the 18-member bloc's forum in September. Three Pacific island states have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China, and they had expressed concern Taiwanese officials would be blocked from entering the country. Solomon Islands switched ties from Taiwan to China in 2019, and in April removed Taiwan from a list of countries eligible for concessional entry. Beijing, which has deepened its ties in the Pacific, claims Taiwan as its own territory. Manele told the Solomon Islands parliament during the week that his cabinet had decided no dialogue partners would be invited to this year's event because a review of each country's relationship with the Pacific hadn't been completed. Loading He said he had informed the forum's 18 leaders of the decision this week. The World Bank, Asia Development Bank and civil society groups would attend, he added. A US State Department spokesperson said the US was 'disappointed by reports that Solomon Islands has decided to exclude dialogue and development partners from the PIF Leaders Meeting this year,' referring to the Pacific Island Forum.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
US, China barred from attending top Pacific political forum
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has said that 21 donor countries – including the United States and China – would not be invited to the Pacific region's top political meeting, a move that follows pressure from Beijing to exclude Taiwan. China's biggest security ally in the Pacific Islands, Solomon Islands is hosting the annual meeting of the 18-member bloc's forum in September. Three Pacific island states have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China, and they had expressed concern Taiwanese officials would be blocked from entering the country. Solomon Islands switched ties from Taiwan to China in 2019, and in April removed Taiwan from a list of countries eligible for concessional entry. Beijing, which has deepened its ties in the Pacific, claims Taiwan as its own territory. Manele told the Solomon Islands parliament during the week that his cabinet had decided no dialogue partners would be invited to this year's event because a review of each country's relationship with the Pacific hadn't been completed. Loading He said he had informed the forum's 18 leaders of the decision this week. The World Bank, Asia Development Bank and civil society groups would attend, he added. A US State Department spokesperson said the US was 'disappointed by reports that Solomon Islands has decided to exclude dialogue and development partners from the PIF Leaders Meeting this year,' referring to the Pacific Island Forum.
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Solomon Islands defends blocking almost two dozen leaders from Pacific Islands Forum
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has defended his move to block almost two dozen nations from a critical Pacific meeting in Honiara next month, saying he made a "sovereign" decision in the region's best interests. Multiple Pacific and Australian government sources have said Mr Manele has cancelled a gathering with dialogue partners at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting in September because he wants to avoid a damaging stoush over Taiwan's participation. His decision means the high-profile meeting will effectively be limited to PIF members, which includes Australia, New Zealand and a host of Pacific nations. But the prime minister insisted he was only "deferring" the dialogue because a bureaucratic overhaul of how PIF nations deal with outside countries during the leaders meeting was "unfortunately … not ready" in time for the meeting in Honiara. "The centrality of the PIF is important." Mr Manele also took a thinly veiled swipe at overseas media outlets that have been reporting on Taiwan tensions in the lead-up to the decision, saying they were driving their own "narratives". "The Pacific region must always lead, drive and own their own agenda and not be distracted by divisive issues pushed by external media," he said. "Our government acts in the best interests of our nation and the region." Solomon Islands has drawn close to China, which has been pressing Pacific nations to break with a decades-long precedent and block Taiwan from attending PIF leaders meetings. Several regional officials have told the ABC that Mr Manele has been under pressure from China on the issue, and the prime minister devised this compromise in order to avoid antagonising either Beijing or the three Pacific nations that still maintain diplomatic ties with Taipei. But the prime minister said he was simply trying to honour the "spirit" of the last PIF meeting, where leaders said they wanted the new "tiered" arrangement to be implemented in time for this year's gathering in Honiara. "We are not under pressure from any external forces," he said. Mr Manele also said decisions relating to the PIF leaders meeting should be made "collectively" — despite the fact only a handful of Pacific leaders have so far backed his proposal. While Taiwan's close ally Palau has publicly supported Solomon Islands' decision, other Pacific leaders — including New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and PNG Prime Minister James Marape — have expressed unease. Mr Manele said restricting the meeting to PIF members would also help them focus on core regional issues of "paramount importance" like climate financing and the Ocean of Peace proposal put forward by Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. No dialogue partners have yet publicly responded to Mr Manele's proposal, although the ABC has been told the United States is very unhappy with its exclusion. China has so far remained publicly silent on the issue, while Taiwan has called on PIF to "maintain its existing arrangements" with partners. Mr Manele said his "message" to PIF development partners was that they were "valued" but that Pacific nations needed "time" and "space" this year. "We understand this decision requires sacrifice," he said. He also suggested dialogue partners might be welcome to Solomon Islands next year if the new dialogue partner mechanism was finalised in time, although he said that would depend on how quickly officials could implement it.
