Taiwan Ally Tuvalu Names New Prime Minister

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Facts

  • Tuvalu's recently elected 16-member parliament appointed former attorney general and fisheries official Feleti Teo as prime minister on Monday, one month after general elections in which outgoing Prime Minister Kausea Natano lost his seat.1
  • As the only candidate running for office, Teo was elected unopposed. According to local media Tuvalu TV, ministers are set to be confirmed at the oath taking ceremony later this week.2
  • This vote, which had been delayed by three weeks as bad weather in the archipelago prevented legislators from traveling to the capital, was watched closely internationally due to mounting geopolitical struggle for influence in the South Pacific.3
  • Tuvalu is among the dozen countries that still recognizes Taiwan despite sovereignty claims from Beijing over the self-ruling island, but some of its officials have called for the new government to discuss the diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and China.4
  • Amid rumors that Teo could consider switching allegiance to the PRC, Taiwan's ambassador to the archipelago claimed to have received assurances from the new prime minister that their bilateral relationship was 'everlasting.'5
  • The new government could also rewrite or scrap a proposed climate and security deal with Australia, which was announced last November and is yet to be ratified. Under the agreement, Canberra would help Tuvalu in exchange for veto power over any defense-related agreement Tuvalu wants to make with a third country.6

Sources: 1Nikkei Asia, 2XINHUA, 3Voice of America, 4Al Jazeera, 5Guardian and 6Associated Press.

Narratives

  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. Tuvalu will accept the One-China principle sooner or later, as the international community has gradually shown that distancing from Taiwan secessionist authorities is an inevitable trend of our times. As climate change and rising seas put Pacific Islands under threat, the dollar diplomacy gets more and more useless compared to cooperating with Beijing.
  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by East Asia Forum. While it's uncertain if Tuvalu will be able to keep resisting Chinese pressure over its relationship with Taiwan in the long term, its small population and high wealth, as well as its Christianity-related opposition to the Chinese Communist Party have made it harder for China-aligned leaders in the archipelago — Taiwan's longest standing Pacific ally — to convince their countrymen to fall into the Chinese trap.