Move leaves China fuming

Samisoni Pareti

Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian staged two coups of his own during his recent tour of the Pacific.

Taiwan president Chen

First, in spite of prior warnings from Beijing, Fiji, which observes the 'One-China' policy, opened its airspace and allowed Chen for an overnight stopover.

The Taiwanese leader was not only greeted at Nadi Airport by government officials, but was also given a traditional Fijian ceremony of welcome. He also met with Fiji's vice-president, Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, over breakfast before departing the next day.

The other surprise did not come until a fortnight after the Pacific tour. Nauru announced its decision to revoke its recognition of mainland China and switched allegiance to Taiwan. Only when the official announcement came on May 14 did the Taiwan de-facto embassy in Suva confirmed that the switch was finalised during President Chen's tour. Apparently when in Majuro during the first leg of the tour, Chen met his Nauru counterpart, President Ludwig Scotty, who was also in the Marshalls to attend the island's Constitution Day celebrations on May 2.

President Scotty followed this meeting up with a visit to Taipei on May 14 where he signed a communiqué to re-establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

“Taiwan will immediately dispatch personnel to Yaren, capital of Nauru, to activate the establishment of our embassy to the Republic of Nauru,” a statement released by the Taiwanese office in Suva said.

“President Scotty was regretful about the mistake made by former Nauru President (the late) Rene Harris to unilaterally sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in July 2002,” the statement added.

The about-turn left Beijing fuming naturally at both countries. Chief executive officer at Fiji's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Isikeli Mataitoga confirmed Beijing had lodged a formal protest about Chen's visit.

Mataitoga said the diplomatic note was received by his ministry on May 9. “I have not received any advise from Ambassador (Jeremaia) Waqanisau that he was summoned to the HQ of the Foreign Ministry in Beijing as a result of the “transit visit” by the Taiwanese President,” Mataitoga told ISLANDS BUSINESS.

Mataitoga was adamant his ministry was never involved in arranging Chen's stopover visit. Fiji's Foreign Minister Kaliopate Tavola also claimed ignorance when contacted by telephone the evening Chen arrived in the country.

“I'm totally in the dark about the arrangements,” Tavola said.

A traditional welcome for President Chen in Fiji

China's ambassador in Fiji, Cai Jinbiao was the least impressed that day, explaining to this magazine that Fiji was well aware of Beijing's strong views on the matter.

“Even if this is a technical transit, why send government officials to welcome him at the airport and then accord him a Fijian welcome ceremony?,” a irritated Cai asked.

According to the Chinese ambassador, Chen's visit was purely aimed at “sabotaging” Fiji's good relations with his government.

Fiji's prime minister Laisenia Qarase was also at the same hotel President Chen had checked into.

But Qarase's aides denied a meeting between the two leaders took place, although a local television reporter said a copy of Chen's stopover itinerary shown to him by a police officer showed that Qarase was scheduled for “informal discussions” with the Taiwanese VIP at 7.30 the evening he arrived.

The reporter said Qarase was described in the programme as prime minister and minister responsible for sugar, and the explanation given was that Taiwan wanted to look at the possibility of buying Fiji's sugar.

But advisers to Qarase maintained no meeting took place between the two men. “Because of our commitment to the One-China policy, the Prime Minister had made it a point that he nor any of his cabinet ministers would meet Mr Chen,” chief executive office at the Fiji Prime Minister's office, Jioji Kotobalavu explained.

“Mr Qarase was in the hotel for two previously arranged meetings and I can tell you that he didn't meet the Taiwanese leader.”

Kotobalavu did confirm that Fiji's vice- president had breakfast with Chen, and that Fiji's chief justice Daniel Fatiaki and Council of Chiefs chairman Ratu Ovini Bokini attended the Taiwanese president's traditional welcome ceremony.

An official at the Taiwanese trade mission in Suva confirmed his government's interest in Fiji's sugar. The official also confirmed that President Chen did offer Madraiwiwi an invitation to visit Taiwan.

“There was no response to the President's invitation,” the official told this magazine.
Other Taiwanese officials while glad at the opportunity to out-smart its bigger rival, attempted still to downplay the importance of the Fiji stopover.

Taiwanese media quoted its Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Michel Lu denying the stopover was a “diplomatic breakthrough”.

“It's a happy surprise,” Lu told Reuters news agency. “But the transit is to make the president's trip more convenient and comfortable, and we won't talk about establishing diplomatic ties.”

In fact, Taiwanese press did confirm that the 40 journalists that accompanied President Chen during the Pacific tour knew of the Fiji stopover before hand. But they were sworn to secrecy in order to avoid the controversy the transit would create. They said Taiwan's official airline Air China knew of the arrangements too.

Visiting four islands countries over thousands of kilometres of ocean is a logistical nightmare. For the first leg of the tour from Taipei to Majuro, President Chen and his 170-member entourage flew in an Air China Boeing 737-800 jet.

The aircraft took them right through to Tarawa in Kiribati. For the third leg of the visit to tiny Tuvalu, the party had to use three Dash 8 aircraft chartered from Papua New Guinea.

The change was necessary since the Funafuti airport is not big enough to take a Boeing 737.

The smaller planes took President Chen and his party right through to Nadi where an Air China Airbus A340 was on hand to fly the group non-stop back to Taipei.

It seems the ramifications of Chen's Pacific tour will be felt for sometime. Just as China was in the middle of sorting out the mess, news came mid-last month of Fiji and Papua New Guinea's support for Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organisation.

Fiji's support made in Geneva by its Health Minister Solomone Naivalu shocked even his own colleague, Foreign Minister Tavola.

He told the local media that Naivalu had been briefed about his government's One-China commitment before the vote in Geneva.

Clearly disturbed by these developments, China did not waste any time dispatching senior official Jia Qinglin to its Pacific allies late last month.

He is the chairman of its national committee of the Chinese peoples' political consultative conference.