Solomons committee looking into Taiwan / China question

12:19 pm on 5 September 2019

A parliamentary committee in Solomon Islands has begun its own inquiry into whether the country should maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan or switch to China.

Solomon Islands parliament

Solomon Islands parliament Photo: RNZ/ Koroi Hawkins

Yesterday, the Foreign Relations Committee called the chairperson of a government taskforce set up to look into the merits of switching to China.

Over the past few months, Moffat Fugui and his bi-partisan taskforce travelled to Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and China as part of their tasks.

Also called yesterday was the Minister for Communication and Civil Aviation, Peter Shanel, who recently led a ministerial delegation to China.

This week the committee will hear from a wide range of people from the public and private sector as well as churches and civil society groups.

After completing its consultations the committee will compile a report of its findings and present it to parliament.

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