Taiwan said on Monday, February 26, that it had received assurances from the new prime minister of the Tuvalu Islands that relations between the two territories “eternal”, allaying fears of a possible rapprochement between the Pacific nation and Beijing, to Taipei’s detriment. Feletti Teo was officially named prime minister of the Tuvalu Islands on Monday following elections that brought the issue of relations with Taiwan to the fore. Tuvalu, a Polynesian archipelago made up of sparsely populated atolls, is one of twelve states that still officially recognize Taipei rather than Beijing.
During the election campaign, MP and then Minister of Finance, Save Peniu suggested that the new government review its relationship with Taiwan. Andrew Lin, Taiwan’s ambassador to Tuvalu, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday that he had spoken to Felletti Teo as well as MPs from the new government and had received assurances. “The relationship between Taiwan and Tuvalu is strong, rock solid, lasting and eternal”.
“I have spoken to each of them and have received assurances from each of them”, Mr. Lin announced after the opening ceremony. Felletti Teo, a former Attorney General, preceded his election as head of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). According to MP Simon Coffey, he will be invested later this week.
International relations should be high on the new government’s list of priorities
Beijing has actively courted Taiwan’s allies in the Pacific, persuading the Solomon Islands and Kiribati to establish diplomatic ties with China in 2019, severing ties with Taipei. The number of countries recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign country fell further in January, when Nauru followed suit.
In this context, the elections in Tuvalu and the selection of a new leader have attracted more attention, and the process has taken longer than expected. In the absence of political parties, the election of a prime minister takes some time in this tiny state of 11,500 inhabitants that elects sixteen deputies.
International relations are expected to be high on Mr Teo’s new government’s list of priorities, with the archipelago among the world’s most vulnerable to rising levels of climate change. Nine islands have already largely disappeared beneath the waves, and climatologists fear that the entire archipelago will be deserted within eighty years.
Jess Marinaccio, a Pacific researcher at the University of California, told AFP it was too early to say whether Teo would maintain ties with Taiwan. “The positions he held were places where he had to deal with countries that did or did not have relations with Taiwan, and so he probably had to be impartial in that regard. »
“He couldn’t express an opinion one way or the other, so we don’t know if he’s leaning one way or the other,” The researcher added.
