Taiwan to close representative office in Papua New Guinea, blames China
Amid the fallout, Taiwan says it will stop purchases of liquefied natural gas from Port Moresby.
Key points
- Taiwan is closing its representative office in Papua New Guinea and ending LNG spot purchases.
- Taiwan's foreign ministry blamed Chinese political and economic pressure for the closure.
- Taiwan said it will also end medical missions, scholarships and talent programmes in the country.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that it is closing its representative office in Papua New Guinea and will stop buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the country, blaming Chinese pressure on the South Pacific nation.
The ministry said Papua New Guinea had repeated earlier demands that staff leave the office in the capital, Port Moresby, within a set deadline and had pushed for its closure. China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, welcomed Papua New Guinea's decision in July to shut the office; Taipei rejected that move and the office stayed open in the interim.
Trade and aid programmes cut
Taiwan had already announced it stopped spot purchases of LNG from Papua New Guinea, and on Friday the ministry said it would no longer sign new spot purchase contracts with the country. Taiwanese LNG purchases accounted for one-third of Papua New Guinea's exports, and last year Taiwan imported about 8 percent of its natural gas from Port Moresby.
Taipei will also end technical cooperation and assistance programmes, "including medical missions, related scholarship and talent development programmes", the ministry said.
reflect China's continued use of political pressure and economic influence to interfere in other countries' diplomatic decisions and suppress Taiwan's international space
— Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Diplomatic competition in the Pacific
The Pacific has long been an area of diplomatic competition between China and Taiwan. Papua New Guinea has formal diplomatic relations with China but had allowed Taiwan to keep a representative office in Port Moresby.
Taiwan has formal diplomatic ties with only three Pacific Island nations: Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. It also has a representative office in Fiji, and just 12 countries maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
