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Solomon Islands reported to restrict meeting to members amid dispute over Taiwan's participation; expert slams DPP, external forces for manipulation

Global Times

By Zhao Yusha Published: Aug 04, 2025 08:31 PM

Solomon Islands could try to defuse a potentially explosive stoush over participation of island of Taiwan in a key regional meeting next month by restricting the gathering to Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) members — effectively excluding China, the US and a host of other countries as well, Australian media ABC reported on Monday.

The report claimed that Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele is under increasing pressure over whether his country will allow representatives from the island of Taiwan to attend the PIF leaders meeting in Honiara this September.

Taiwan has long attended the meeting as a "development partner" and has used that opportunity to boost its international visibility, according to the ABC report.

In August 2024, when asked to comment on the PIF leaders' meeting reaffirming an arrangement for participation from the island of Taiwan in the forum, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

The one-China principle is a fundamental norm in international relations and a widely recognized consensus in the international community, said Lin. Any attempt to establish "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" is doomed to fail. "The Taiwan authorities' attempt to use the forum to gain visibility is nothing but self-deception and will only bring humiliation upon themselves," he said.

The ABC report on Monday claimed that Mr Manele is likely to propose to fellow Pacific leaders that the annual dialogue with PIF partners be deferred entirely, until after a broader review of regional diplomatic architecture is complete.

That review, which includes a proposal to establish a new "tiered" system for PIF dialogue partners, was meant to be finished in time for the leaders' meeting in September, but has been hit with delays, according to ABC.

Earlier this year, Solomon Islands refused to issue visa to representatives from Taiwan authorities who wanted to enter Honiara to help prepare for their delegation, according to the ABC report.

This shows that attempts by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan to boost their visibility on the international stage and political manipulation by certain external actors have left some regional countries in a dilemma, Chen Hong, director of the Asia Pacific Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times.

If the strategic direction and national interests of an island nation are affected in the long term because of the Taiwan question, it is obviously not in line with its long-term development considerations, Chen said, noting that while some governments in the region may make temporary "compromises" due to internal political dynamics and external pressure, such moves are far from a genuine or sustainable choice aligned with their long-term strategic interests, said Chen.

When attending the Third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province in May, Solomon Islands' Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Peter Shanel Agovaka said that Solomon Islands firmly opposes "Taiwan independence" and supports the efforts of the Chinese government to achieve national reunification, according to Xinhua.