00:00As a Pacific island nation in a strategic location, Palau is caught between big world
00:04powers like the US and China and your friendship with Taiwan makes you a target for Beijing.
00:11You flagged economic coercion from China, cyber attacks and Chinese vessels entering your waters.
00:18Have you seen China's tactics change as you're entering into your second term in office?
00:23Well, we definitely see an uptick in organised crime coming into Palau.
00:28Whether it's the online gaming operations, we've had a record number of drug busts at the airport,
00:36Chinese nationals bringing in drugs. These are all issues I think that help weaken
00:44us as a nation and so we're very vigilant and I'm glad that Taiwan is assisting us,
00:50their justice department is assisting us in combating these challenges because
00:57we need good intelligence. We have Chinese research vessels continuing to come into our EEZ,
01:05not respecting our boundaries and our world law and they've even gone into our areas and named
01:12ridges, Chinese names, undersea ridges and then on our extended continental shelf,
01:18they're constantly surveying and try to put Chinese names on those ridges.
01:22Do you think actions like this, Chinese vessels naming
01:26geographical features, ridges, reefs, is an infringement of your sovereignty?
01:31Oh, absolutely. You know, we're a long ways from China but to have ridges within our EEZ
01:42and on our continental shelf that have Chinese names on them because of those research vessels,
01:48to me is a threat to our territorial boundaries.
01:55Let's talk about your relationship with Taiwan. You've been a diplomatic ally of Taiwan for
02:00decades and despite pressure from China to switch allegiance to Beijing,
02:05you've said you've promised to stick by Taiwan. Why?
02:09I think most importantly, we're a free and democratic country. We respect rule of law,
02:18human rights and territorial boundaries and I think as a small nation, if those rules are not
02:25respected, then all our survival is at stake. So now more than ever, I think all countries should
02:33stand by Taiwan, big and small, because I think at the end of the day, we all want to live in
02:39peace and harmony and respect each other's territorial boundaries. At the end of the day,
02:45that's all we're asking for. Keep the status quo and continue to work together to build
02:53a planet that we can all live in harmony. Palau is one of just 12 countries that
03:00officially recognizes Taiwan's sovereignty and you've said that it's important for you
03:04to give Taiwan a voice on the international stage and speak up for Taiwan in places like
03:09the United Nations. Given China's objections and influence, this must be difficult.
03:15Have you personally experienced any pressure or pushback? Chinese officials always tell us you
03:19need to do the right thing and the right thing for them is to denounce Taiwan.
03:25When I say, well, no, that's not an option for us. We're all members of the UN.
03:32We respect your sovereignty. We respect you as a country and you need to respect us as a country
03:39and respect our sovereignty and our decision to recognize Taiwan and we recognize you as
03:47a country. Give us the same courtesy, but obviously that's not what China wants to
03:56agree to and so their narrative is always we need to
04:04change what we're doing and join the rest of the world.
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