A Chinese Ambassador asked us to have diplomatic relations with China and we said, 'we have no problem having diplomatic relations with China.' What we have a problem with is [China] telling us that we cannot have diplomatic relations with Taiwan [. . .] We see that tensions are rising, we believe in 'presence is deterrence'.
Whipps emphasizes Palau's commitment to Taiwan despite pressure from China.
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A Chinese Ambassador asked us to have diplomatic relations with China and we said, 'we have no problem having diplomatic relations with China.' What we have a problem with is [China] telling us that we cannot have diplomatic relations with…
There's a lot of pressure on Palau . . . what we've told them is that we don't have any enemies--so we shouldn't have to choose. If you want to have relations with Palau, you're welcome. But you cannot tell us that we cannot have relations…
It is important that we align ourselves with people that believe in boundaries, rule of law, democracy and freedom because we need to protect those values.