Tuvalu's new prime minister says he wants to revise a condition in the Pacific island nation's security agreement with Australia regarding any arrangement with a third country.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Prime Minister Feleti Teo, a 61-year-old first-time lawmaker, and his eight Cabinet ministers were sworn into office on Wednesday, a month after general elections in the strategically significant nation of 11,500 people half way between Australia and Hawaii.
Election campaign issues included whether Tuvalu should switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing. An elected candidate proposed scrapping a treaty, which has yet to be ratified, that would give Australia veto power over any security-related agreement Tuvalu wants to make with any other country, including China.
Seve Paeniu, who was finance minister in the previous government and was considered a leadership contender in the election, had argued for Tuvalu's relationships with both Taiwan and Beijing to be reviewed. Paeniu was excluded from Teo's Cabinet.
The new administration announced it would maintain diplomatic ties with the self-governing Taiwan.
"Our ties with Taiwan are purely based on democratic principles and they have been very loyal to us," Teo told Associated Press.
When the tiny atoll country of Nauru switched alliances to Beijing in January, Tuvalu was left one of only three Pacific island nations aligned with Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China claims as its own territory.
Teo said he hopes to renegotiate development assistance agreements with Taiwan and that impacts of climate change and sea level rises remain top priorities for his nation of low-lying atolls.
The treaty with Australia, announced by previous Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in November, offered Tuvaluans an option of resettlement in Australia to escape rising oceans and worsening storms.
Australia would initially allow up to 280 Tuvaluans to immigrate each year. The treaty would also commit Australia to helping Tuvalu in response to major natural disasters, pandemics and military aggression.
But Teo wants Australia to drop a clause that both countries must "mutually agree" on any third-country security agreement that Tuvalu may seek.
Teo said he had been involved in drafting the treaty as a legal consultant for Tuvalu and the original intention had been only for Australia to be informed of such third-party agreements. Australian approval had not been expected.
Teo would not speculate on whether Australia wants veto power to avoid a repeat of the security pact signed between China and the Solomon Islands in 2022 that raised the prospect of a Chinese naval foothold being established in the South Pacific.
In his view, the treaty would become acceptable if Australia dropped the mutual agreement provision.
"We need to revisit that provision," Teo said. "The general perspective here in Tuvalu is that it might encroach on Tuvalu's sovereignty."
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong's office did not immediately respond to a request or comment on whether further negotiation was possible.
Australian Associated Press
