Pacific Island nations have condemned China’s missile test in the Pacific, calling for greater advance notice of future intercontinental ballistic missile tests. The position was contained in a joint statement adopted on Thursday at the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Palau. The summit communique, read by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps……
Pacific Island nations have condemned China’s missile test in the Pacific, calling for greater advance notice of future intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
The position was contained in a joint statement adopted on Thursday at the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Palau.
The summit communique, read by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps at a late-night news conference, called for countries to provide at least 24 hours’ notice before conducting intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
The statement was agreed by 17 of the forum’s 18 members, with Nauru, officially known as Naoero, dissenting.
China gave only a handful of nations short notice before test-firing the intercontinental ballistic missile in July, flexing its military might in a region where it has long sought to expand its influence.
The missile landed in international waters near Taiwan ally Tuvalu and Naoero, sparking immediate outrage from Pacific countries who hold bitter memories of nuclear testing by the US, Britain and France decades earlier, and have declared their waters a nuclear free zone.
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The summit’s communique says leaders “register concern on the recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test which overflew a number of members without adequate notice”.
It called on “all states undertaking ICBM testing to ensure transparency and reassurance including through the provision of advanced notification of a test, at least 24 hours, in accordance with international practice”.
Beijing said the test launch was “a routine arrangement of China’s annual military training”, and that “relevant countries were informed in advance”.
Naoero switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing two years ago, and has been reluctant to criticise China, a significant infrastructure lender to the region.
On Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry accused Palau of “hijacking” responses from other Pacific nations.
“Palau has repeatedly hyped the issue, maliciously hijacking the positions of other Pacific Islands Forum member countries. This scheme will not succeed,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference in Beijing, before the Pacific statement.
“I think the message from the forum is clear, transparency needs to happen,” Whipps responded.
The United States conducts ballistic missile tests in the Pacific under a defence agreement with the Marshall Islands, which Palau and Australia’s leaders said Thursday was “very different” to China’s test because adequate notice is given.
– Taiwan friction –
Palau invited its diplomatic ally Taiwan to the forum as an aid partner, among a dozen non-Pacific countries including China and the United States that participate in sideline events in different capacities.
Beijing bristled at the presence of Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung at the opening ceremony.
Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, and China’s Pacific envoy Qian Bo told reporters on Monday there would be “consequences”.
Taiwan hit back saying its role in the Pacific, where it has three diplomatic allies, stops China from “having full control”.
The friction at times overshadowed Pacific nations’ focus on the region’s most pressing issues, tackling climate change and transnational crime.
Australia, the largest forum member and the Pacific’s biggest aid donor, pledged AU$600 million ($432 million) to boost satellite and drone aerial surveillance to help track and intercept “narco subs” bringing increasing volumes of methamphetamine and cocaine through island waters.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said he had raised concerns about new US visa bond charges for Pacific citizens travelling to the United States in a sideline meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
Landau pledged $60 million to improve fuel security in the Pacific, to alleviate soaring prices caused by the Middle East crisis.
At the forum’s closing ceremony, secretary-general Baron Waqa said the Pacific faced significant challenges and had shown it would act together.
“The bonds between us must remain stronger than the forces that seek to divide us,” he said.
AFP
