By Wu Qiaoxi | 2026-06-04

Small island nations must be free to choose their own international partners, Palauan President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. said, rejecting Beijing's efforts to pressure Palau into switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.

Palau's recognition of Taiwan is a sovereign decision and one that larger powers should not sway, Whipps said in an interview published June 2 by Kyodo News. He called for deeper cooperation with Japan on tourism, fisheries, maritime security and ocean conservation.

Whipps was in Tokyo to co-chair the Island States Ocean Summit, where island nations discussed climate change, ocean governance and development financing. Palau wants partners with shared values to become leading investors in fishing, tourism and agriculture, he said.

Taiwanese ties

Palau is one of 12 countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and has recognized Taipei since 1999. Beijing has repeatedly offered economic incentives to persuade Palau to switch recognition, Whipps said.

"You cannot tell me that I cannot recognize Taiwan. That's our sovereign choice as a country," he said.

Whipps accused Chinese vessels of conducting unauthorized research and survey activities inside Palau's Exclusive Economic Zone, saying authorities had documented Chinese equipment being deployed in the country's waters. Such actions violate international law and undermine sustainable marine management, he said.

Recalling a conversation with a Chinese diplomat, Whipps said: "I was talking to one Chinese ambassador, and his comment to me was ...You're a small country. You shouldn't have such a big ocean. I think that's not right."

The remarks came days before Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim is scheduled to visit Palau from June 6 to June 10 at Whipps' invitation, according to Taiwan's Presidential Office. The visit highlights a relationship that Beijing has tried to sever.

Chinese pressure

Beijing's coercion of Palau has gone beyond diplomacy. China halted group tours to Palau in 2017, a move widely viewed as retaliation for the Pacific island nation's ties with Taiwan.

Chinese officials promised "a million Chinese tourists" and infrastructure investment if Palau cut ties with Taiwan and recognized Beijing, Whipps has previously said. Palau rejected the offer.

"And we have said: 'We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,'" Whipps said.

"China used its economic coercion to try to punish Palau by suddenly, overnight, stopping all tourism to Palau from China," U.S. Ambassador to Palau Joel Ehrendreich told the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) for a June 3 article.

"What we've seen on the ground is China has used ... an enormous amount of pressure through organized crime, call centers, bribery, corruption to try to weaken the political and economic structures," Cleo Paskal, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CBN.

A risk assessment prepared by Pacific Economics for the Palauan government alleged that Chinese-linked criminal networks used shell companies, real estate projects and online gambling ventures to expand their influence. The report said some operations were linked to money laundering and political influence efforts aimed at sundering Palau's relationship with Taiwan.

Palau has faced cyber and security pressure too. In 2024, a major cyberattack caused the leak of more than 20,000 government documents. The leak exposed information related to Palau's exchanges with Taiwan and military activities involving the United States and Japan. The same year, a Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile reportedly passed through Palauan airspace without prior notice.

Strategic islands

Palau's significance extends beyond its Taiwanese ties. The island nation sits along the "second island chain," a strategic arc that U.S. military planners view as essential to maintaining access, deterrence and influence across the Pacific.

The chain runs from Japan through Saipan, Tinian and Guam before extending south through Yap, Palau and the Philippines, Paskal said. As China extends its military reach, Washington has strengthened partnerships with countries along the route.

Paskal described the central Pacific as a critical strategic crossroads for the United States.

"If a hostile foreign power controls the center of the Pacific, which includes Palau, [the] mainland U.S. isn't safe," she said.

Under the Compact of Free Association, Palau grants the United States access to its territory and facilities for defense purposes. About 80 U.S. troops are stationed in the country, where American forces have been upgrading radar systems and improving strategic infrastructure.

Chinese developers have leased land near sites used by the United States to monitor regional activity, a pattern he said has appeared elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, Ehrendreich said.

Palau's location gives the island nation significance far beyond its size, Paskal said.

"There is this understanding that what happens in the western Pacific doesn't stay in the western Pacific if you're dealing with a hostile power," she said.