China Welcomes Vanuatu Back To The Fold Following Vohor’s Departure

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

16 December 2004

According to an announcement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, normal relations between Vanuatu and the People’s Republic of China have been restored following the sacking of Vanuatu’s Prime Minister, Serge Vohor.

The news signals an end to the Pacific nation’s attempt to establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a move which antagonised China and backfired on Vohor, who was eventually ousted by his ministers in a vote of no confidence last weekend.

In an attempt to seek a fresh source of foreign aid, Vohor last month undertook a trip to Taipei, where he concluded an agreement with Taiwan behind the back of his own government and in defiance of Vanuatu’s twenty-year ‘one China’ policy, causing a period of political chaos in the Pacific island state.

He has been replaced as the country’s Prime Minister by Ham Lini, who announced a new cabinet immediately following his election on Saturday morning.

In a statement confirming the restoration of friendly relations between Beijing and Vanuatu, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a press conference:

“The Chinese government is willing to join hands with the new government of Vanuatu to further advance the friendly cooperative relationship between the two countries, on the basis of the China-Vanuatu joint communiqué signed in 1982 when the two countries forged diplomatic ties and the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence."

Recommended