In an exclusive interview with AFP after his return from a visit to Taiwan earlier this month, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. said that Palau does not accept bullying from any country, especially China, when deciding its own future.
The 52-year-old Huizhuren was elected president of Palau last year, defeating his pro-China rival, and the country he visited for the first time in office was Taiwan. Taiwan and Palau are also working together to promote tourism bubbles.
Palau, with a population of about 21,000, is one of Taiwan’s only 15 remaining diplomatic relations. In an exclusive interview with AFP this week, Huizhuren said, “Even if we are the only ones left, we will still support them strongly because Taiwan has been on our side from the very beginning.”
Huizhuren, the most outspoken anti-China leader in the Pacific nation, told AFP that this was due to the fact that under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the stance of the authorities in Beijing has become more aggressive, as well as his own experience in dealing with Chinese officials.
“I’ve met with them a few times in the past, and the first thing they said to me over the phone before that was, ‘What you’re doing now is illegal, recognizing Taiwan is illegal. You have to stop.'”
“You know, that’s the tone they took.” But, he said, “It’s not up to anyone to tell us who we want to be friends with.”
Huizhuren said he often received calls on his cell phone from Chinese officials before last year’s election. “After the election, I didn’t take any more calls from them.”
Taiwan established relations with Palau in 1999, and Huizhuren said the two sides are more than just friends. The two countries’ indigenous people belong to the same South Island language family, and “we have the same culture and history.”
Huizhuren said Beijing’s crackdown on attempts to isolate Taiwan, especially during the epidemic, will only make the international community more sympathetic to Taiwan.
“Taiwan is a free country. They are a democracy and should be respected as such. As a diplomatic ally, they must not be abandoned at the door.”
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