Tuvalu's foreign minister reportedly withdraws from UN conference after China blocks Taiwanese delegates

Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe has reportedly withdrawn from the United Nations Ocean Conference after China opposed the attendance of three Taiwanese delegates.

Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda on 26 June 2022. Credit: Ministry of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs, Tuvalu Government/Facebook

Key Points

• Tuvalu's foreign minister has reportedly pulled out of the United Nations Ocean Conference after China blocked three Taiwanese delegates included in Tuvalu's delegation.
• Taiwan is not able to attend UN events because it is not a member of the UN.

Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe withdrew from the United Nations Ocean Conference in Portugal, after China challenged the accreditation of three Taiwanese delegates included in Tuvalu's delegation, Radio New Zealand reported.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, is not a member of the United Nations and its citizens are unable to attend UN events as representatives of Taiwan.

Tuvalu has had diplomatic ties with Taiwan since 1979, and is one of 14 countries that continues to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than China.

Taiwan is largely excluded from international organisations that have China as a member.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry thanked Tuvalu for its support, and expressed condemnation of China.

"China's arbitrary pressure on (UN) member states has only once again revealed its nasty nature," the ministry said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian reiterated Beijing's stance that Taiwan is part of China.

"The Taiwan authorities' attempts to squeeze into the United Nations Conference on the Oceans and the Law of the Sea by engaging in petty manoeuvres in the international arena or acting as followers of other countries will only demean themselves," he told a daily media briefing in Beijing.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has reiterated China's stance that Taiwan is part of China. Source: AAP / Liu Zheng

Solomon Islands journalist Dorothy Wickham said it is likely that Minister Kofe will travel to Australia after the cancelled engagement in Portugal.

Minister Kofe captured the world's attention for his nation last year when he addressed a global climate conference standing ankle deep in the sea to illustrate that Tuvalu was "sinking".

Forty percent of the capital district is under water at high tide, and the country is forecast to be submerged by the end of the century.

Around 7,000 people, from heads of state to environmental activists, are expected to attend the conference.