TAIPEI, Taiwan – President Surangel Whipps Jr. urged China to respect Palau’s sovereignty and international law, just days ahead of a contentious visit by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.
Lai is visiting Palau, along with the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu – three of Taipei’s 12 remaining diplomatic allies – as part of a Pacific tour that has triggered fierce criticism in Beijing. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunited, by force if necessary.
Whipps said Lai’s visit would cement a strong 25-year relationship that will continue growing despite China’s opposition.
“One of the things that China needs to understand is that they should respect our sovereignty and our decision to choose who our friends are,” he told BenarNews in an interview on Monday. “I think if you want to be a partner with Palau, a friend of Palau, you don’t do it by force.”
China has courted Pacific island nations for the past two decades as it seeks to isolate Taipei from its allies, gain influence in international institutions and challenge U.S. dominance.
Palau’s refusal to abandon Taiwan has led to what Whipps described as “unfriendly behaviour” from China.
Whipps has accused China of starving Palau’s tourism-dependent economy of visitors and being behind a major cyberattack this year in which more than 20,000 documents were stolen.
Last month, he said Chinese research vessels made two illegal incursions into Palau’s exclusive economic zone.
“That’s another example of [China] not respecting the rule of law, not respecting boundaries,” he said. “These are the types of activities that don’t lend to friendly relations.”
‘Encourage investment’
Whipps said he hoped Lai’s visit would unlock new opportunities for investment in areas such as tourism, aquaculture, agriculture, renewable energy and marine transportation.
“We want to encourage investment and this is something that we hope for during President Lai’s visit,” he said.
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Another initiative that would be discussed would be joint maritime rescue operations and patrols, he added.
Palau, which is between the Philippines and the U.S. territory of Guam – a base for U.S. bombers – is one of three Pacific island nations including the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia that give the U.S. exclusive military access to their territories in exchange for economic assistance under compacts of free association.
They have among the world’s largest exclusive economic zones and militarily strategic seas near East Asia, a region of potential flashpoints in China-U.S. competition.
The U.S. military presence is set to grow in Palau with the installation of an over-the-horizon radar by 2026. The U.S. Marine Corps is also expanding a Japanese World War II-era runway on the island of Peleliu.
Whipps, who won a second term in office after an election last month, said Palau’s close ties with the U.S, Taiwan and Japan were important in securing a free and open Pacific.
He said certain Chinese actions were stoking regional tension, including its activities towards the Philippines in and around disputed shoals in the South China Sea.
Whipps also criticised China’s test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile, without warning, into the Pacific Ocean in September as a “clear violation of common decency and respect for nations.”
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.