By Joyce Huang | 2026-07-22

Taiwan is reconsidering its liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases from Papua New Guinea (PNG) after the Pacific country July 15 ordered the immediate closure of Taipei's unofficial representative office there in an apparent move to please China.

Taiwan opened the office in 1990 in Port Moresby in lieu of formal diplomatic ties.

PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said Taipei's presence in PNG was "no longer recognized or required and reaffirmed PNG's commitment to Beijing's one-China policy, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung July 22 reiterated that his ministry is reviewing trade ties with PNG, including its annual imports of about 1.2 million tons of LNG from the Pacific nation.

Lin urged PNG to reverse the decision before attending a legislative session.

PNG's motives

The decision by Tkatchenko stemmed from "his personal interests," Lin said. He described it as another example of how Beijing controls a small group of ruling elites in other countries to advance its goals, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA).

Tkatchenko announced the closure in a Facebook post while PNG's deputy foreign minister and chief of its Asia-Pacific department were both away, catching them by surprise, Lin said, adding that Tkatchenko was the only PNG official pushing for the shutdown and had received direct benefits from Beijing. Tkatchenko's electoral district includes "where you enter the airport," he said.

Scholars in Taiwan, though, suggested a geopolitical motive too.

The move was meant to shore up PNG's ties with Beijing while preserving its new security pact with Australia -- the Pukpuk Treaty, which took effect this month and commits both countries to mutual defense, professors Wayne Tan (National Chung Hsing University, Taichung) and Wang Hong-zen (National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung) agreed in remarks to Focus and Liberty Times, respectively.

PNG's strengthened ties with Australia risk offending China, Tan said. He called Taiwan the "easy target" in a risk reduction strategy.

China's pressure campaign

Washington is "deeply concerned" by PNG's move, an unidentified U.S. State Department spokesperson told CNA by email.

The spokesperson characterized it as yet another fruit of "Beijing's intimidation campaign against Taiwan and its supporters around the world."

Beijing "highly commends" PNG's decision, Zhang Han, spokesperson of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said July 22, according to United Daily News.

Taiwan weighs response

Taiwan is PNG's fifth-largest trading partner and buys about one-third of PNG's LNG exports annually, according to Lin's ministry.

LNG comprised more than 40% of PNG's exports in the second quarter of 2025, according to the PNG government.

Lin said his ministry was still engaging with PNG but would soon finalize its response, while thanking other "like-minded" democracies, including the United States, for their concern.

Taiwan might cancel LNG imports from PNG, a move some analysts say is needed to send a message.

Any countermeasures should encourage PNG to reconsider the costs and benefits of its decision rather than damage Taipei-Port Moresby ties, Wang told Liberty Times.

Hard choice on energy

As Taiwan considers its options, analysts worry about the long-term consequences of ceasing to buy PNG's natural gas.

Taiwan should secure an alternative LNG source before cutting imports from PNG, Tan told Focus.

The episode caps a decade of escalating Chinese pressure on Taiwan's unofficial footholds abroad, Jozef Huljak, a Ph.D. student in political science at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia, wrote for the Lowy Institute. It sets a precedent for countries to line up with Beijing at low cost since Taiwan has limited means to retaliate. Taiwan's diplomatic standing may be measured soon "not [by] how many embassies it still holds, but how many offices it is still allowed to keep," he wrote.

Taiwan has official relations with only 12 countries.

Taiwan could manage the energy security implications of reducing LNG imports from PNG to a certain extent, Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin said after his ministry reviewed the issue.

The roughly 1.2 million tons that Taiwan imports annually include long-term contracts that would be difficult to alter, as well as purchases from the spot market, which provide Taipei with some room to adjust procurement if needed, Kung said.