NAURU SLAMS CHINA FOR ‘INSOLENT, BULLY’ ENVOY IN INT’L FORUM

WELLINGTON— An undiplomatic dispute between China and the island of Nauru, which is an ally of China’s rival Taiwan, has marred the opening of a Pacific Islands Forum, highlighting China’s growing reach in the region.

Nauru is hosting leaders of 18 Pacific nations, plus delegations from nonmember countries including the United States and China, at a time of growing tension and rivalry in a strategically important region with access to swathes of resource-rich ocean.

‘Insolent, bully’

But Nauru President Baron Waqa criticized China’s envoy to the forum as “very insolent” and a “bully” for speaking out of turn after an angry exchange at the opening of the annual gathering.

Speaking out of turn

“The Chinese demanded to be heard when (Tuvalu’s) prime minister was about to speak,” Waqa told a news conference late on Tuesday, after media reported a heated start to the closed-door meeting.

“He insisted and was very insolent about it, and created a big fuss and held up the meeting of leaders for a good number of minutes when he was only an official. So maybe because he was from a big country he wanted to bully us,” Waqa said.

A video of part of the incident, posted on Facebook by Fijian magazine Islands Business, showed China’s delegate demanding that he be heard, citing his seniority.

Nauru and Tuvalu are two of six Pacific countries to have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which is a major source of tension with China, which regards Taiwan as a wayward province, to be taken back by force if necessary.

Beijing reaction

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said it was Nauru that engaged in poor and undiplomatic behavior.

“Nauru, as the host of the forum, violated international norms and the rules of the forum, and put on a clumsy farce,” Hua told a daily news briefing.

Nauru originally demanded the Chinese delegates enter using normal passports but after protests and threats of a boycott by most other participants, they were allowed in on diplomatic passports, she added.

During the meeting, Nauru obstructed China’s delegation from speaking, so they lodged “stern representations” and walked out of the venue in protest, Hua said.

“Many countries representatives at the meeting also left the meeting venue and expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Nauru side.”

But New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who appears in the video posted on Facebook suggesting as a compromise that China’s delegates could speak after Pacific ministers, told reporters there was no walk out by China’s delegation.

China’s delegation was led by Du Qiwen, its ambassador to Fiji.