Highlights: Tuvalu parliamentarians choose prime minister, Beijing and Taipei watch closely. The new elected official will have to make a major choice: continue to support Taiwan or cut all diplomatic ties, as one candidate proposes, to turn to China. Only three Pacific microstates still recognize Taiwan. Washington is trying to expand its zone of influence in the Pacific, with radar construction projects, the opening of embassies, and financial aid. In 2019, it was the Solomon Islands that severed diplomatic ties with Taipei. In total, since 2016, seven official allies have turned away from the island.

In Tuvalu, parliamentarians, delayed for a month by bad weather, must elect on Monday a successor to the Prime Minister, who lost his seat in January. The new elected official will have to make a choice…

Tuvalu parliamentarians choose prime minister, Beijing and Taipei watch closely

In Tuvalu, parliamentarians, delayed for a month by bad weather, must elect on Monday a successor to the Prime Minister, who lost his seat in January.

The new elected official will have to make a major choice: continue to support Taiwan or cut all diplomatic ties, as one candidate proposes, to turn to China.

Only three Pacific microstates still recognize Taiwan.

A woman voting in Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, this Sunday, February 25.

AFP - SAM PEDRO

By: RFI Follow

For the three Pacific countries that remain loyal to Taiwan – Tuvalu, Palau and the Marshall Islands – democracy and shared values take precedence.

Beyond these principles, the three governments also receive financial aid from Taipei, even if it is out of proportion to what China could offer them.

But what really weighs in the diplomatic balance is Taiwan's great ally: the United States.

Washington is trying to expand its zone of influence in the Pacific, with radar construction projects, the opening of embassies, and financial aid.

In exchange, the United States secures exclusive access to certain strategic areas of the Pacific.

Despite this policy, some countries prefer to turn to Beijing.

In 2019, it was the Solomon Islands that severed diplomatic ties with Taipei.

In the process, China finances the capital's stadium, presented as a gift of friendship.

It hosted the 2023 Pacific Games.

But for Palau and Tuvalu, there is no question of giving in to Chinese blackmail, which is offering, in exchange for their recognition of a single China, the construction of hotels or artificial islets, to fight against rising water levels.

In total, since 2016, seven official allies have turned away from the island under Chinese pressure.

To rereadLegislative elections in Tuvalu: with the failure of the outgoing Prime Minister, Taiwan risks losing a new ally in the Pacific

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Tuvalu parliamentarians choose prime minister, Beijing and Taipei watch closely

Tuvalu parliamentarians choose prime minister, Beijing and Taipei watch closely

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