China Blocks Taiwanese Delegates from U.N. Conference, Prompting Boycott by Tuvalu

The top diplomat from the tiny island nation of Tuvalu withdrew from the U.N. Ocean Conference after China blocked three Taiwanese experts who served as part of Tuvalu’s delegation from attending the meeting. The boycott has implications for China’s malign influence at the U.N., as well as the ongoing geopolitical contest in the South Pacific.

The Pacific branch of New Zealand’s public-radio service broke the news that Tuvalu would boycott the conference rather than give in to Beijing’s pressure campaign.

Tuvalu foreign minister Simon Kofe canceled his trek to Lisbon, Portugal, mid-trip, after he learned of China’s barring the Taiwanese members of his delegation, RNZ Pacific reported.

Although some Pacific island countries are pivoting toward Beijing, Tuvalu is one of 14 that officially recognize Taiwan.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, thanked Tuvalu for its support and condemned China’s malicious behavior at the U.N., according to the Taipei Times.

The U.N. Ocean Conference will convene delegates from across the world to discuss oceanic conservation and sustainability efforts.

Tuvalu’s decision to skip the conference is especially significant given the intensity with which the country has focused on fighting climate change. Citing rising sea levels, Kofe delivered a video address to the COP26 global climate summit in November while standing in water up to his knees.

By declining to attend the conference, Kofe placed his country’s solidarity with Taiwan above its climate-diplomacy aims.

China is engaged in a campaign to prohibit Taiwan’s participation in any form throughout the U.N. system. Under Chinese pressure, the U.N. has prohibited people with Taiwanese passports from accessing U.N. facilities, even for tours. In at least a few instances, the organization has gone as far as editing historical documents to reflect Beijing’s preferred nomenclature on Taiwan.

U.N. leadership has declined to push back against the Chinese pressure campaign. The U.N. secretary-general, António Guterres, rebuffed a request by Taiwan’s allies last fall to ask that the country be permitted to participate in certain U.N. functions, and in his response used one of China’s preferred names for Taiwan.

Beijing did not deny that it intervened to prohibit the Taiwanese experts from attending the conference. Instead, Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao accused Taipei of attempting to “squeeze into” the conference “by engaging in petty maneuvers in the international arena.”

Although Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken out forcefully against Taiwan’s exclusion at the U.N., climate envoy John Kerry is still poised to attend the conference.