TAIPEI, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung will attend events related to a major summit of leaders from Pacific islands nations in Palau starting next week, his office said on Wednesday.
China’s test-firing in July of a missile into the Pacific alarmed regional powers but failed to spur a unified response from Pacific Island governments, underscoring divisions over how to confront growing strategic competition in the region.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has gradually whittled away the number of Pacific island countries with formal ties to Taipei, with only three remaining – Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said that Lin would leave for Palau on Thursday and be there for a week, taking part in side events to the summit, including a Pacific Islands Forum dialogue meeting hosted by the forum’s secretariat, and the Pacific Prosperity Exhibit.
Lin will also meet Taiwan’s Pacific diplomatic allies and “other friendly nations to exchange views on deepening the partnership between Taiwan and Pacific island nations, as well as jointly maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” the ministry said in a statement.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lin’s visit to Palau for the forum, which is being held from Sunday until September 4.
China has expanded its influence in the Pacific in recent years through infrastructure financing, diplomatic outreach and security cooperation, which has prompted concern among traditional partners including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
