However, this event may be overshadowed by regionally important issues, such as climate change, overshadowed by the increasing tension between Taiwan and China.
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Palau, hosting this year’s 18-member Pacific Islands Forum, is one of three organization members maintaining diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than China, which is a major creditor to many island states.
China, Taiwan, and the US are among the aid partners invited to the forum, although they will not participate in the leaders’ meeting. Beijing protested Taiwan’s invitation.
On Sunday, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, together with Palau President Surangel Whipps, presented a fleet of electric buses donated by Taipei during a ceremony.
China responded to Lin Chia-lung’s visit to Palau by declaring the tourism-dependent island an “unsafe” place for travelers, later told journalists by S. Whipps.
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Data shows that Chinese tourists are the largest visitor group on Palau island.
The US embassy issued a statement accusing China of attempting to “turn tourism into a weapon to pressure Palau.”
“The Pacific is our home, not an arena for geopolitical competition,” S. Whipps said in an interview on Sunday.
He emphasized that tensions among Pacific partners should not distract from the islands’ priorities – renewable energy, combating drug crime, food security, and climate change, which directly affect people’s lives.
Island residents face rising fuel and food prices caused by the war in the Middle East.
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