By Lucy Craymer and Lewis Jackson
WELLINGTON/BEIJING, Sept 1 (Reuters) - China on Tuesday objected to Taiwan's presence at the Pacific Islands Forum saying the democratically ruled island was not qualified to attend the summit, but Australia and New Zealand said the Pacific bloc would decide the guest list.
China views Taiwan as its own territory, and tensions between both have featured prominently at the annual meeting of the 18-member group that counts Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island nations
as members.
Palau, which is hosting this year's meeting, is among just a handful of Pacific nations that have maintained diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
At his speech during the forum's opening ceremony on Monday, Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. said: "Our partners are welcome to sail with us, but they do not choose our destination."
However, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Taiwan was "not qualified to participate in the activities of the forum at all".
"The Taiwan authorities sent Lin Chia-lung and other Taiwan independence separatists to make sneaky visits around in a vain attempt to attract eyeballs and attention, and the result can only be inviting disgrace upon themselves," he said, at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
Palau invited Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung for meetings and side events held alongside the forum. Taiwan is not a formal dialogue partner of the forum, but a development partner. China, the U.S., the EU, Britain, Canada, India and Japan are among the 21 dialogue partners of the forum.
SOME LEADERS ABSENT
China's special envoy for Pacific island affairs Qian Bo said on Monday that Taiwan's presence would have consequences — without specifying what they would be.
China has gradually whittled away the number of Pacific Island countries with formal ties to Taipei, with only three remaining — Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Pacific bloc would determine for itself who would attend the summit.
"This is primarily a gathering of the Pacific family ... and I look forward to the engagement," Albanese said on Tuesday.
New Zealand's foreign minister, Winston Peters, also said the group did not take instructions from countries outside it.
The prime ministers of Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and the Solomon Islands and the president of Kiribati are not attending the forum, and have sent low-ranking ministers instead, raising concerns the absences could impact the outcome of the meeting.
TAIWAN 'HONOURED TO SERVE AS A PARTNER'
Peters said he was "highly suspicious" about whether foreign interference might be behind some of the leaders' absences, Australian state media ABC News reported, adding that Peters did not point the finger directly at China but said New Zealand would verify what was happening before laying any blame.
China's foreign ministry spokesperson said Peters' comments were unfounded.
"Taiwan is honoured to serve as a partner in the Pacific, continuing to stand with everyone and work together to make the Pacific more prosperous and peaceful," Lin said on Monday.
Australia, New Zealand and the United States have long considered the South Pacific to fall within their sphere of influence.
In the latest sign of that effort, New Zealand and the U.S., in a joint statement released on Tuesday during the summit, said they would jointly fund a major upgrade of a World War Two port on a Cook Islands' atoll.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney, Lucy Craymer in Wellington and Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Alison Williams)
