The Pacific island nation of Palau announced Friday (5) that it was withdrawing from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and several other countries are mulling leaving as well, bringing the Pacific’s most important political organization to the brink of disintegration. The organization’s divisions are said to reflect the influence of China and the United States in the region’s struggle for influence. And the Cook Islands and Fiji, whose economies have been hit hard by the Epidemic, have recently turned to the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for loans, raising concerns about the region’s growing dependence on Beijing.
According to a report in Ming Pao today, Palau withdrew from the Pacific Islands Forum on the verge of collapse, the election of the secretary-general to the surface of discord, experts say: China is expected to take the opportunity to expand its influence.
According to Ming Pao, the Pacific Islands Forum has 18 member countries, including Australia, New Zealand and other island countries, and is seen as a key element in the U.S. allies to promote diplomacy in the region. By convention, the region’s three largest island groups Polynesia (Polynesia), Melanesia (Melanesia) and Micronesia (Micronesia) will take turns having representatives elected secretary-general, this year should have been Micronesia’s turn, the latter elected the Marshall Islands Ambassador to the United States Gerald Zackios, but other larger The island supported the Polynesian election, resigning from the post of prime minister of the Cook Islands for the current campaign (Henry Puna), and Puna won narrowly by 9 to 8 votes.
The report said Palau denounced the election process as a clear reflection that the organization is no longer guided by unity, regionalism and the “Pacific Way” (Pacific Way), and announced its withdrawal from the organization. Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. said, “Micronesia doesn’t really need to be part of (the forum), they don’t really see us as part of it,” and implied that regional powers Australia and New Zealand were biased in favor of the south. The other four countries in the Micronesian island group, namely the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia, will meet next Monday to decide whether to follow. Nauru President Lionel Aingimea said Friday, “If this is the way Micronesia is treated, then it’s best to withdraw from the forum.”
The controversy highlights the North-South divide in the Pacific, with the smaller countries of the Micronesian island group in the north consistently challenging the more influential powers in the south for ignoring their interests. The Pacific Islands Forum is headquartered in Fiji’s capital, Suva, and Palau has announced the closure of its embassy in Fiji, citing that it no longer needs diplomatic envoys after withdrawing from the organization, but stressing that relations between the two countries remain unchanged. The organization has always been at the forefront of international demands for action on climate change, and there is concern that this incident may set back environmental lobbying efforts.
According to Ming Pao, on the other hand, these islands are sparsely populated, but the location is very strategic, and control resource-rich waters, in some international organizations also have voting rights, into the United States and China to compete for influence in key areas. At present, Taiwan has four diplomatic relations in the Pacific, three of which are small Micronesian countries, namely Palau, the Marshall Islands and Nauru. Whipps told The Guardian when he took office last month that he would confront mainland China’s “bullying behavior” in the Pacific. He said the United States has proven to be a reliable ally of Palau over the years, including the recent provision of 6,000 doses of Modena vaccine to the country, and mentioned that the U.S. Coast Guard and Palau’s maritime authorities seized a Chinese fishing boat late last year, suspected of illegally fishing for sea cucumbers in Palau waters, stressing the need to stop illegal fishing. He continued that Palau will maintain close ties with Taiwan, and in 2018 it was reported that mainland China ordered travel agencies to stop selling flights to Palau on the grounds that it maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, hitting its tourism-dependent economy hard.
The report said China’s influence in the Pacific has been growing in recent years, with the Solomon Islands and Kiribati breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2019 and establishing diplomatic ties with Beijing instead. China has taken advantage of the epidemic to strengthen its assistance to the island nation, including sending medical supplies to French Polynesia and Fiji, among others. Chinese aid is particularly visible in Fiji, the region’s largest country, such as the second-largest island of Vanua, which was hit by a strong storm late last year, the Chinese government donated 420,000 Fijian yuan (about 1.6 million Hong Kong dollars).
The Cook Islands and Fiji, whose economies were hit hard by the epidemic, turned to the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for loans, drawing attention to the region’s growing dependence on Beijing, Ming Pao reported last month, citing Reuters.
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