CHINA has refuted suggestions that it pressured Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele to stop Taiwan from attending the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum.
Reeling under Pacific backlash created by the ban, Manele also blocked China and the United States from the regional talks.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters warned that Manele’s actions threatened to split regional unity. Most Pacific leaders felt Manele had been pressured by China to drop the Taiwanese.
An unnamed spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Wellington said Solomon Islands had not been pressured.
But the spokesperson called on relevant parties to “maintain their one-China commitment in good faith, creating necessary conditions for the Forum to focus on cooperation agenda.’’
In a media statement, China repeated its stand that Taiwan was a province, not a country.
Earlier this week, Peters told Forum foreign ministers that outsiders were threatening to split the leaders’ summit in Honiara.
“Outsiders are now telling us who we can have as guests,” Peters said.