Chinese diplomats in Fiji
Crashed Taiwan’s National Day Party
But that’s not all they’re doing
To challenge Taiwan in the Pacific
Welcome back to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
There was a major diplomatic incident between China and Taiwan this month in Fiji.
What happened? Well, it’s a bit of a he said/she said situation.
According to Taiwan, two Chinese diplomats
crashed a Taiwanese National Day Party in Fiji on October 8.
I believe we have a picture of the two Chinese diplomats in question.
Anyway, the party crashing led to a fistfight in Fiji.
Also known as a stoush.
A scuffle.
A fracas.
Newspapers love a good old-fashioned fracas.
Anyway, the fight was serious enough to land
a Taiwanese official in the hospital with a concussion.
So why did these Chinese diplomats crash Taiwan’s National Day party? Well Taiwanese
officials say that the Chinese diplomats were trying to photograph the people who were there.
“Beijing has deployed such tactics—turning up at events,
taking photographs of people—in recent years to intimidate its rivals and those who support them.”
When the Taiwanese staff tried to stop them from taking photographs,
the Chinese diplomats assaulted them.
Of course, Beijing totally denies this.
"First of all, Taiwan has no so-called diplomats in Fiji...The relevant report you mentioned is
totally inconsistent with the facts. Taiwan is like a thief crying 'stop thief'."
Yeah, there aren’t any so-called Taiwanese diplomats in Fiji,
which means we couldn’t have so-called punched them in their so-called faces. In fact,
those Taiwanese diplomats who don’t exist punched us in the face first!
Chinese authorities are saying that the Taiwanese “acted provocatively
against the Chinese Embassy staff...causing injuries and damage to one Chinese diplomat.”
So how did those Chinese diplomats get there in the first place?
They totally didn’t crash Taiwan’s party.
They were just “carrying out their official duties in the public area outside the function venue.”
...official duties that may or may not have included secretly photographing
people going into the venue. And trying to crash Taiwan’s party.
In any case, since Taiwan is part of China,
that means this Taiwanese party is actually a Chinese party,
which means that the Chinese diplomats weren’t crashing, they were just going to their own party!
Everyone knows the best party is a Communist Party.
But the Chinese foreign ministry wants the world to know that the real
problem isn’t the party crashing. The real problem is the cake.
That’s because “a false national flag was openly displayed at the scene;
the cake was also marked with a false national flag,” according to spokesman Zhao Lijian.
I believe that Zhao is saying that the cake is a lie.
In the end, police were called to the event, but the Chinese officials claimed diplomatic immunity.
The actions of the Chinese diplomats in Fiji are part of China’s increasingly aggressive
“Wolf Warrior Diplomacy.”
As well as the Chinese Communist Party’s increasing threats to Taiwan.
But that’s not the whole story.
What happened in Fiji is also about China’s growing attempts to dominate the Pacific.
And I’ll tell you how, after this short break.
Welcome back. China’s fracas over a Taiwanese cake in Fiji
is just a small part of the Communist Party’s attempts to dominate the Pacific.
Fiji is located here, in the South Pacific, a short flight away from Australia.
Fiji is an archipelago of more than 300 islands.
It’s most famous for its abundant natural resources, like bottled water.
Fun fact: Fiji used to be known as
the Cannibal Isles. I imagine they changed the name because it was hard to get tourists.
Welcome to the Cannibal Isles: We’re here to serve you.
Anyway, Fiji was one of the first Pacific
nations to recognize the People’s Republic of China back in 1975.
But relations between Fiji and the Chinese Communist Party
really started warming up back in 2006,
after the current prime minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, seized power in a military coup.
China didn’t criticize the coup. In fact, they increased their aid to Fiji dramatically,
from 1 million dollars to 161 million dollars within two years.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has personally met with Bainimarama several times,
including during a state visit to Fiji in 2014.
During that visit, they signed five agreements as part of China’s Pacific engagement strategy.
Fiji is also part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In just the last five years,
China has invested more than a billion dollars in Fiji, mostly for infrastructure projects.
Like these Fiji-China Friendship Bridges. Yeah, they really cemented the bilateral friendship.
Hey Xinhua, I’m the one who makes punny jokes around here. Stay in your lane.
Fiji also became the first Pacific island nation to get a loan
from China’s infrastructure investment bank.
There have been some hiccups along the way. Like a Chinese mega-resort that destroyed a local reef
and then had its building rights revoked.
But overall, the relationship between Fiji and China has gotten even closer
after the coronavirus outbreak.
Chinese state-run media are talking about speeding up construction projects in Fiji.
Fiji does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan,
but Taiwan does have a de facto embassy in Fiji—the Taipei Trade Office.
And their National Day celebration, the one that sparked the literal diplomatic fight,
was attended by Fiji government ministers, opposition leaders, and prominent businesspeople.
So it’s easy to see why the Chinese diplomats were so eager to figure out
who was at the party. Eating that delicious, delicious cake.
In fact, Taiwan’s influence is one of the big reasons
that the Chinese Communist Party is more interested in the Pacific.
More on that after the break.
Welcome back. Taiwan is a key reason why the Chinese
Communist Party is interested in the Pacific.
Although frankly we are running out of parts of the globe where China does not have an interest.
But four of the 15 countries that officially recognize Taiwan are in the Pacific: Nauru,
Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu.
Last year, the Chinese Communist Party managed to get two Pacific countries to
switch diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China: The Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
Thanks to China’s diplomatic application of... lots and lots of money.
There’s a lot more going on with China and these Pacific nations than I can fit into this
episode. Let me know if I should do another episode on this topic.
But broadly speaking, the Pacific is one place that Taiwan and China compete heavily for
influence, especially because Taiwan can afford to give more aid to these smaller Pacific countries.
Remember: no matter how big or small a country is, it gets one vote in the United Nations.
And the Pacific Ocean happens to be a great place to build naval bases.
But it’s not just Taiwan that’s worried about China’s increasing role in the Pacific.
Australia and New Zealand are also nervous about China gaining more influence in their backyard.
In case China decides to turn the nine-dash line
into the 19-dash line. Or for that matter the 90-dash line.
That’s one reason both Australia and New Zealand are competing with China for influence in the
South Pacific as well. For example, Australia outbid China to fund a military base in Fiji.
And the United States is paying attention, too. After all,
the US not only has territory in the Pacific, it also has many military bases in the region.
Last month Palau, which recognizes Taiwan and not
China, invited the US to build a military base on their islands as well.
That’s after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper visited Palau
and accused Beijing of being “a malign influence” in the region.
And Beijing is the big reason that the US has just released its 2020 Pacific Pledge.
It’s a pledge to give more than 200 million dollars of funding to the Pacific islands,
including 130 million dollars to support the response to COVID-19.
So expect to see growing diplomatic rivalries in the Pacific over the next few years
between China and Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
Sounds like it’s going to be a real party. Pass the cake.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from one of you,
who supports China Uncensored through the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Bill asks, Do you think the USA should sell F-35 fighter planes to Taiwan,
thus, giving Taiwan the ability to remove all Chinese airplanes from its air space?
Taiwan might send a message to the CCP: "Do Not Tread On Me!"
Well, Bill it’s complicated. Two years ago, Taiwan had wanted to buy F-35 stealth fighter
jets from the US. But they stopped requesting that last year, and asked for F-16 fighters instead.
The US just finalized that sale two months ago.
Why did Taiwan stop asking for the F-35s?
“The air force turned its back on pursuing the F-35B short takeoff/vertical
landing (STOVL) fighter due to a recent Taiwan National Security Council report. It indicated the
stealth fighter was too exorbitant and untested in real combat to be a pragmatic choice for Taiwan.”
There was also concern that the US might not sell the F-35 to Taiwan for security reasons.
But some experts say that Taiwan still needs the F-35,
since they don’t have any stealth fighter jets.
And a former deputy undersecretary of defense has suggested that instead of selling F-35s to Taiwan,
the US should lease them.
The idea would be that the planes would be leased to Taiwan but would stay
in the US. That way they could be a deterrent to China, but China wouldn’t
be able to spy on the F-35s, or attack them, since they wouldn’t be physically in Taiwan.
It’s an interesting idea.
Thanks for your question Bill.
And if you’d like to have me respond to your question or comment on the show,
join what I call the China Uncensored 50 Army...
and support us in the battle against the Chinese Communist Party. You can join for as little as a
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as well. Head over to Patreon.com/China Uncensored to learn more. Link is below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.