President Surangel Whipps accused mainland China of "weaponing tourism" and tried to influence the number of tourists to force it to sever relations with Taiwan.
According to Agence France -Presse, HPS said on Wednesday (August 14) during a speech during the official visit of New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, saying that Mainland China told Palau "we can give it to Palau"There is no upper limit for everything you need. "
Palau is about 885 kilometers east east of the Philippines. It is one of the only 12 countries in the world that recognizes Taiwan in diplomacy.In recent years, the Solomon Islands, Kiribas and Nauru have all abandoned Taiwan to recognize mainland China.
Hapi said that they are facing tremendous pressure from mainland China. "We have something to do with Taiwan ... China (Mainland) publicly told us that this is illegal, and we should not recognize Taiwan."
He said:" We need economic development, but at the same time we have values, we have partnership, we cherish the relationship with Taiwan, "he added." We are willing to be friends in China (mainland), But it will not be at the expense of the relationship with Taiwan.He said that recently released news that Palau is an unsafe place and should not travel there.
The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China posted on the WeChat public account on June 13 this year, "In recent years, Palau's public security cases have increased, and cases involved in Chinese tourists, tourist disputes, etc.When it happens, it is recommended that Chinese citizens effectively improve their awareness of security prevention and be cautious to travel to Palau.
Hamps also said that just before he attended the Lai Qingde inauguration ceremony in May, Palau was banned from attending a meeting of the Asia -Pacific Tourism Association (PATA) held in Macau.He said, "This is the reality we are facing."
This is not the first time that Hamps has accused Beijing of interfering in Palau's affairs.When Hamps visited Japan on June 5 this year, they criticized Mainland China in March this year to launch a large -scale network attack on Palau, and revealed that Japan, the United States, and Taiwan have proposed to help Palau strengthen the network defense.
