China rejects claims of Pacific Islands Forum interference amid Solomons’ partner ban

The Chinese government has criticised media reports claiming interference in the upcoming Pacific Island Forum Leaders’ Meeting (PIFLM) scheduled for next month in the Solomon Islands.

In a Facebook post, the Chinese Embassy in Tonga states that narratives suggesting “China interfering in Forum cooperation” are “seriously inconsistent with the facts” attributing them to either ignorance or deliberate distortion.

“Since the establishment of the Forum's dialogue mechanism, China has never missed a single Forum dialogue and has always actively used this platform to discuss practical measures with all parties to support the development of Pacific Island countries,” the post states.

“China values the annual opportunity for dialogue when the Leaders of the Forum meet.

“To suggest that China has worked to exclude itself from the dialogue in the Solomon Islands this coming September just does not stack up.”

The Solomon Islands has excluded all 21 dialogue partners and Taiwan from participating in the leaders’ meeting in Honiara.

The annual Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting is set to be held next month in Honiara. Photo/PMN News/Ala Vailala

Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs Minister Peters Shanel Agovaka says the decision aligns with the outcomes from last year’s leaders’ meeting in Tonga.

“They enhance our meetings, and I think our dialogue partners are useful in coming to the meetings,” Agovaka says. “One of the issues that I think we should address is what are we going to discuss?

“I think a lot of times the dialogue partners come, it's always like you come to a meeting and then you hold this conference and you pledge something.”

Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs Minister Peters Shanel Agovaka. Photo/Supplied

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo says he would not be surprised if China was behind the decision to block partners from the forum.

“There is no denying that China is trying to extend its footprint in the Pacific and so is the US,” Teo told The Guardian.

Teo is considering his country’s participation in the Honiara summit due to the exclusions.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters says he’s concerned about the growing external influence within the PIF but refrained from specifying which countries he was referring to.

“Those people who are saying to the Pacific Islands Forum countries. We don't want somebody to come. You can work out who they are,” Peters says.

He also questioned how this situation shows respect for the PIF countries when external forces dictate internal decisions.

Watch Winston Peters' full interview below

He compared the current dynamics to the Forum’s 2021 Micronesian split, during which several countries withdrew over a leadership dispute.

‘We’ve got outsiders causing the split, and that’s worse. So we’ve got to make sure that every outsider comes here with respect for us, of us who are inside the organisation.”

In regards to Taiwan’s exclusion from next month’s meeting, China says Taipei has no qualifications or rights to participate in Forum activities.

China says Taiwan had never been recognised as a Forum dialogue partner or observer and deemed references to it in the 1992 Forum communiqué a “mistake”.

“Some countries and forces still attempt to create disturbances using the Taiwan question, and they are the ones that are interfering with the Forum's focus on development issues, undermining the unity and cooperation among PICs, and endangering regional peace and stability.”