Tuvalu's foreign minister Simon Kofe says China threatened to challenge the island nation's entire credentials list for the 2022 UN Ocean Conference if the Taiwan representatives were not removed from its delegation.
Tuvalu's foreign minister Simon Kofe Photo: Tuvalu Government Media
Tuvalu has diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognises it as a sovereign country although it is not formally recognised at the UN.
Kofe said Tuvalu tried to assist Taiwan as much as possible with participation in international forums as it is common practice for countries to include non-nationals in their delegations at UN summits.
He said Tuvalu was a sovereign country and it had the right to compose delegations for international conferences according to what best suited the nation.
For the UN Ocean Conference, currently underway in Lisbon, it had included Taiwanese delegates on its credentials list.
"The People's Republic of China (China) sought, through the UN Credentials Committee, to have these delegates removed with the threat that, if they were not removed, Tuvalu's entire credential list for the event would be challenged," he said.
"Rather than jeopardise Tuvalu's ability to participate in the conference, I chose to remove the Taiwanese delegates from our credential list while, at the same time, withdrawing my own participation in protest against the unfair treatment of Tuvalu as a sovereign nation."
Kofe confirmed Tuvalu still had a delegation attending the conference with high-level representation.
"However, we must take some action to register our disappointment with changes to our delegation list. Although Tuvalu does not maintain diplomatic relations with China, we respect all nations, and we expect that all nations will respect us," he said.
He said countries must now work in greater cooperation and discussion with the UN and all relevant parties to pave a way forward.
"I believe that we have to look carefully and critically into any system where one country can dictate the composition of another country's delegation for an international event."
"Tuvalu is a sovereign country. Although we are small, we should not be treated as a lesser nation."
According to the UN, "the Conference is open to participation by all States and it remains the sovereign right of each State to decide on the composition of its delegation which cannot be changed by other individual States."
"The Secretary-General continues to encourage all States to participate at the highest level for this important Conference," a UN spokesperson told RNZ Pacific on Tuesday.