Taiwan open to renewing ties with old allies in the Pacific but will nix extortion

Francois Chinchung Wu

By Mar-Vic Cagurangan

Taipei—Taiwan would be willing to reestablish relations with runaway allies in the Pacific island region, but it would not give in to extortion, a foreign affairs official said Tuesday.

“Certainly, Taiwan now has a way to reestablish those countries that abandoned Taiwan, but we don't have unlimited resources. People who want to reestablish relations with Taiwan should understand that,” Francois Chinchung Wu, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister, said in a press conference.

“If it is only a demand of the leadership to try to get Taiwan to pay some people, it would be very disappointing for us, especially now that our National Assembly is very tough,” he added.

Taiwan has lost three Pacific island nations to China in recent years, leaving it with only 12 allies.

The Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched back to Beijing in 2019, and Nauru followed suit last year.

Taiwan terminated its bilateral projects in Nauru following its diplomatic turnaround, which resulted from the Taiwanese government’s refusal to yield to Nauru leaders' demand for it to match Beijing’s offer. 

“China has long made efforts to approach prominent political figures in Nauru, offering economic assistance as an incentive to persuade Nauru to switch diplomatic recognition,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a press statement last year. “Nauru repeatedly demanded massive amounts of economic assistance from Taiwan and proceeded to compare Taiwan’s aid proposals with those of China.”

Wu said Taiwan would not succumb to such a diplomatic ploy.

“Taiwan was an undeveloped country in the past. Now it has become a developed country and we do have to obtain also the support of countries like Australia, New Zealand and other advanced countries for our security,” he said. “It means that our government needs to function in a modern way.”

He said that if Taiwan were to renew ties with deserters, the arrangement "should be in a much more transparent way and much more normal way” and any assistance that may be extended “should be for the good of the whole nation.”

Wu acknowledged the challenge of reestablishing relations with old allies in the Pacific island region.

“For example, the Solomon Islands; it seems uneasy because the influence of China is getting stronger and stronger,” he said.

“The Pacific islands cannot be so naïve about China. A lot of examples have been shown about what China tries to do to dominate and control local policy. But it takes time to discuss this kind of Chinese way. We also believe that the problem is China is trying to corrupt the islands at the leadership level.”

While Taiwan may be considered a Pacific island nation, Wu said China's growing influence has pushed it to diplomatic isolation.

But Taiwan has better things to offer, he added.

"We do believe that we can contribute to the world because the prosperity of Taiwan is based on technology. It's not only cheap technology, but also for the very economic activities that we are doing," Wu said.