By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - At least five heads of government were absent from talks at the annual Pacific Island Forum that began on Monday, as China-Taiwan tensions weighed heavily over the meeting that was intended to demonstrate regional unity.
The prime ministers of Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and the Solomon Islands and the president of Kiribati will not attend the summit in Palau, an archipelago of over 500 islands that has maintained diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The absent leaders
are expected to be represented by ministers or senior officials.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, 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.
China questioned Palau's inclusion of Taiwan in the gathering, saying it had "no qualifications" to take part in the forum. Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung was invited for meetings and side events held alongside the forum. Taiwan is not a formal dialogue partner like China but instead is a development partner.
Beijing issued a travel advisory last month declaring Palau "unsafe" for tourists.
In response, the U.S. embassy in the capital Koror said in a statement that it "opposes any attempts by China to weaponize tourism to coerce Palau."
Dialogue partners including the U.S., China, Japan and Singapore will return to the forum after being excluded from last year's meeting in Honiara. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and China's Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries Affairs Qian Bo are among those expected to attend.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale was due to attend but left Palau to face a no-confidence motion at home.
Wale was elected prime minister in May, replacing a leadership that had deepened ties with Beijing and signed a security pact with China that alarmed the United States and its allies.
Kiribati said President Taneti Maamau was unable to travel because parliament was sitting and flights were limited.
The meeting, hosted by Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. in Koror through September 4, is being held under the theme "B.E.L.A.U. — Building Economies: Life. Action. Unity."
"The theme reflects a simple but important conviction: that building stronger economies is not an end in itself," Whipps said while opening a meeting of the Smaller Island States (SIS), the first gathering of leaders for the week.
"It must elevate the livelihoods of our people, create tangible and sustainable opportunities for our economies, and unite us in our ongoing efforts to deepen regionalism through integration."
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Pacific countries wanted tangible outcomes.
"We want more doing, less hui," Peters told reporters on Sunday, using the Maori word for meetings.
Peters said oil supply disruptions were among the region's most pressing concerns and foreshadowed an announcement on relief measures that could come within days.
Regional security is also expected to feature after a Pacific Island foreign ministers' meeting in Suva earlier this month failed to agree on a collective response to a Chinese missile test in the Pacific.
Peters said it was unclear whether leaders would reach a common position in Palau, adding that the time elapsed since the test raised questions about the value of a response now.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington; Additional reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Praveen Menon and Kim Coghill)
