Papua New Guinea orders closure of Taiwan office as Taiwan rejects move

Papua New Guinea orders closure of Taiwan office as Taiwan rejects move

On the event date, July 15, 2026, Papua New Guinea's foreign minister, Justin Tkatchenko, announced the immediate cessation of operations and formal closure of Taiwan's representative office in Port Moresby. The decision was presented as a reaffirmation of Papua New Guinea's commitment to its One-China policy, placing the move squarely inside a familiar and sensitive diplomatic framework.

The announcement mattered because Papua New Guinea is one of the countries that maintains formal diplomatic relations with China while also allowing Taiwan to operate a representative office. The AFP report published by The Straits Times said the office in question was the Taipei Economic Office, and that its closure was announced in a statement dated July 15 before Tkatchenko posted it publicly on Facebook on July 16.

Taiwan responded quickly and sharply. Its foreign ministry said it strongly protested a decision it said had been taken without prior consultation. Taiwan also said its representative office in Papua New Guinea would continue to operate as normal and would keep providing necessary services to its nationals in line with relevant regulations. In other words, Taiwan's first response was not to concede the closure, but to reject it and assert continuity.

China, by contrast, welcomed the move. The report said China's foreign ministry highly appreciated Papua New Guinea's decision and said it stood ready to continue supporting Papua New Guinea on issues concerning each other's core interests. That reaction is consistent with Beijing's long-running effort to narrow Taiwan's international space and to frame diplomatic choices by other governments as confirmations of the One-China principle.

Tkatchenko told AFP that Taipei had been informed of the decision weeks earlier. He also said the closure would not affect commercial contracts between Taiwan's CPC Corporation and Papua New Guinea's liquefied natural gas exporter, PNG LNG. That point is important because it draws a line between political representation and business relations: the office may be closing, but the government was at pains to say existing commercial arrangements were not being disrupted.

The Taiwan foreign ministry said it had contacted like-minded countries to seek the attention and support of the international community and was considering appropriate response measures. That language suggests the dispute is not confined to Port Moresby. Taiwan often uses such moments to reinforce ties with governments willing to engage it and to highlight the costs of being pushed out of another capital.

The report leaves open one obvious question: what practical change will follow the announcement beyond the office closure itself. What is clear is that Papua New Guinea has chosen to align more explicitly with its One-China stance, Taiwan has refused to accept the decision, and China has signaled approval. The immediate effect is diplomatic friction; the longer-term effect will depend on whether the office closes in practice and whether the various commercial and consular relationships described by the parties remain intact.

For now, the sequence is straightforward. Papua New Guinea says the office is closed. Taiwan says it is not accepting that outcome. China says it welcomes the move. And the diplomatic contest over Taiwan's footprint in the Pacific has taken another step into the open.