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Tuvalu's new prime minister to visit Taiwan next April

Pacific island plans to form 'Friends of Taiwan' regional alliance

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Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe.

Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe. (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano will visit Taiwan next April, the Pacific island state’s foreign minister said Thursday (November 21).

Simon Kofe met President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) Wednesday (November 20) to tell her Tuvalu would remain a faithful ally, following elections which brought a new government to power last September.

The foreign minister also proposed an alliance between Taiwan and Pacific nations to act against China’s interference in the region, the Central News Agency reported.

Natano, who wrapped up his first-ever visit to Taiwan Thursday, said that friendship between the two countries had existed for 40 years, from before he had been born. Relations had always been “strong,” and they would continue to be so under the new Tuvalu government, Kofe told CNA.

While China had not yet contacted that new administration, Chinese corporations had expressed interest in plans by Tuvalu for man-made islands, he said. Members of the previous government had reportedly refused approaches by the Chinese businessmen.

Tuvalu was now looking to form a “Friends of Taiwan Association” with Taipei’s other allies in the region, Nauru, Palau and the Marshall Islands, according to Kofe.

He added that the group would stand together to repel China’s growing influence in the Pacific and help each other avoid a debt trap.