TAIPEI, July 17 (Reuters) - Taiwan faces an extremely difficult diplomatic situation because China is suppressing the island "everywhere", Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said on Friday after Papua New Guinea said it was closing Taipei's representative office in the country.
The Pacific has long been an area for diplomatic competition between China and Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state. The democratically ruled island rejects China's sovereignty claims.
Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said on Thursday that Taiwan's office would be closed, drawing praise from Beijing and condemnation from Taipei. Papua New Guinea, like most countries, only has formal ties with China, not Taiwan.
"Our diplomatic situation is truly extremely difficult. China is suppressing us everywhere — suppressing our chances to survive and to expand our international space," Hsiao told reporters in Taipei.
"For us, this is a setback, but we will still continue to strive — to strive for opportunities, whether for our overseas compatriots or to continue expanding our cooperation with the international community."
Only 12 countries now maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, three of which are in the Pacific - Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement that it was aware of Papua New Guinea's statement about the closure of Taiwan's office.
"We will seek further information about this decision in due course," it added, without elaborating.
Taiwan and Papua New Guinea are both members of APEC. Port Moresby hosted the group's annual leaders' summit in 2018, which was attended by a Taiwan government envoy.
Papua New Guinea very briefly had diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1999, and Taiwan also has a representative office in Fiji.
In 2020, a Taiwanese diplomat ended up in hospital in Fiji after two Chinese diplomats stormed into a reception trying to gather information on who was attending.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Neil Fullick)
