UNITED STATES: Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te arrived in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu on Wednesday (Dec 4), as part of a trip aimed at shoring up international support for Taiwan as China seeks to poach its few remaining allies.
Taiwan calls itself a sovereign nation, but Beijing insists the democratic island of 23 million people is part of its territory and opposes any official exchanges with it.
Lai’s day trip to Tuvalu came just ahead of a stopover in the US territory of Guam.
Earlier, he was in the Marshall Islands where President Hilda Heine expressed her government’s commitment to “remain a staunch ally” of Taiwan.
Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands are among 12 nations that still recognise Taiwan diplomatically, after China convinced others to dump Taipei in favour of Beijing.
Lai smiled and waved as he stepped off the plane in Tuvalu, where he was greeted by Prime Minister Feleti Teo, Governor General Tofiga Vaevalu Falani, schoolchildren, an honour guard and a traditional song and dance performance.
“When I disembarked and saw Tuvaluan students waving the national flags of our two countries, I strongly felt the people’s firm commitment to our diplomatic alliance,” Lai said through a translator.
Looking relaxed in a colourful shirt and a garland of pink and yellow flowers around his neck, Lai said he hoped Taiwan and Tuvalu can “expand our cooperation to even more areas, thereby further strengthening our diplomatic partnership”.
Taiwan has a long history of providing development aid in the Pacific.
In a speech, Teo expressed “Tuvalu’s thanks for Taiwan’s contribution” to a pool of funds used by the government to buy a submarine internet cable, as well as its financial support for climate action.
In a joint communique on “advancing the comprehensive partnership” signed during Lai’s visit, Taiwan and Tuvalu agreed to “reassess the ongoing bilateral cooperation projects, in order to establish a more durable, lasting and mutually beneficial diplomatic relations”.
Teo was named prime minister in February, a month after an election that put the nation’s recognition of Taiwan in question.
During the election campaign, senior lawmaker Seve Paeniu had floated the idea that Tuvalu’s new government could review its Taiwan ties.
That set off frenzied speculation about a looming shift in policy, but the new government has vowed to keep up its “special” relationship with Taiwan.
