China warns Pacific Islands Forum chief over Taiwan attendance
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- China's foreign ministry warned Pacific Islands Forum secretary-general Baron Waqa on Aug 11 to 'strictly adhere to the one-China principle' and avoid harming China-Forum ties after he announced Taiwan's 2026 attendance.
- Baron Waqa said on Aug 7 that Taipei would attend the 2026 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau from Aug 30 to Sept 4, calling Taiwan 'a very important development partner' though not a dialogue partner.
- Taiwan was barred from the 2025 Forum meeting after host Solomon Islands blocked its attendance at Beijing's urging, a step so severe that all external countries were disinvited from that gathering.
- Nauru, Kiribati, and Solomon Islands have all severed diplomatic ties with Taipei since 2019, leaving Taiwan with 12 remaining partners including Palau, Tuvalu, and Marshall Islands.
- Beijing opposes Taiwan's participation in international organizations and exchanges with other countries, framing the warning as protection of ties with the regional bloc.
Why it matters: Beijing is publicly pressuring the Forum to keep Taiwan out even as the bloc's 2026 host — Palau — is one of Taipei's last 12 diplomatic allies, raising the stakes for whether Taipei gets an actual seat rather than a symbolic mention. Three Pacific states have already switched recognition to China since 2019, and the 2025 exclusion was harsh enough to disinvite all external countries from that meeting.
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