Mr Whipps Jr admitted that while the loss of income from Chinese visitors is significant, he emphasised tourism “should not be weaponised”.
“If you don’t beat your wife to (force her to) love you, then it’s true partnership,” he said.
“Palau people understand how important Taiwan is, as a true partner that really cares about the development of our island and promotion of our friendship.”
He said Palau wants to be a “friend to all and enemy to none”, including China.
“We’ve told China, we have no problems having diplomatic relations with you. But China said, ‘You have to denounce Taiwan’. And we said, ‘That’s not an option’. We will not denounce our best friend,” said Mr Whipps Jr.
“It is important that countries respect each other’s boundaries and territories. We want to make sure that we continue to promote a rules-based order. Even though we’re small, we still should be respected as a country.”
