A Taiwanese official has been hospitalized with a head injury after an altercation broke out between Chinese and Taiwanese diplomats in Fiji earlier this month.
On statements given by both foreign ministries on Monday, the two accused each others’ diplomats of attacking their Fiji-based staff during a reception on Oct. 8, which marked Taiwan’s national day.
Taiwan’s ministry of foreign affairs said two Chinese Embassy officials arrived at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva where the festivities took place and started “harassing” and taking photos of the guests, which included Fijian ministers, foreign diplomats, NGO representatives, and members of Fiji’s ethnic Chinese community, according to the Guardian.
Taiwan also accused the Chinese officials of falsely telling Fijian police they had been attacked by the Taiwanese personnel and said it “strongly condemned the serious violations of the rule of law and civilized norms by the staff of the Chinese embassy in Fiji.”
However, China pushed back on this claim, calling it “completely inconsistent” with the facts of the events.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on Fiji to investigate the events after it had expressed serious concerns to the government.
“The facts are that the Taiwan trade office openly held a ‘national day’ event and openly displayed the flag of a ‘false country’ and had that false country flag on a cake as well,” Zhao said.
The incident exemplifies the long-standing tensions between China and Taiwan.
The Pacific was once supportive of Taiwan until around 2019 when China managed to bring both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati to offer formal recognition and breaking off diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Taiwan maintains formal relations with four Pacific countries, including Nauru, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu. They currently don’t have formal relations with Fiji.
