By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
China said Monday it has "serious concerns" about Taiwan's presence at the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, warning of unspecified "consequences" after the self-governed island took part in the group's opening ceremony, The Guardian reported.
Beijing regards Taiwan as its own territory, and the dispute over Taipei's attendance has become a running feature of the annual forum, which is meant to project regional unity among Pacific nations. Australia and New Zealand pushed back on China's objection, saying it is the forum itself — not any single member state — that determines who attends.
The forum's guest list has become a proxy fight for the larger contest over influence in the Pacific, where Beijing and Western-aligned states including Australia, New Zealand and the United States have spent years courting island nations with aid, infrastructure and security deals. Taiwan has observer-style relationships with several forum members, a status China has long tried to squeeze.
No Pacific Islands Forum member has announced any change in policy toward Taiwan as a result of China's warning, and it remains unclear what "consequences" Beijing has in mind. What is clear is that a meeting billed as a showcase of regional unity has, once again, become a stage for the Beijing-Taipei standoff — a reminder that even gatherings of small island states now sit inside a much larger geopolitical contest.
FILED FROM SOMEWHERE WITH BAD COFFEE -
— Compiled from reporting by The Guardian.
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