Taiwan shuts Papua New Guinea office and ends LNG buying, citing Chinese pressure

Taiwan said on Friday it had decided to ​shut its representative office in Papua ​New Guinea and stop buying liquefied natural ‌gas ​from the country, blaming Chinese pressure.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said Papua New Guinea, which briefly had diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1999, had repeated previous demands ‌that staff leave its office in Port Moresby within a set deadline and had pushed for its closure. Papua New Guinea's actions "reflect China's continued use of political pressure and economic influence to interfere in other countries' diplomatic ‌decisions and suppress Taiwan's international space", the foreign ministry added in a statement.

In July, Papua New ‌Guinea's foreign minister said it had decided to close Taiwan's representative office immediately, winning praise from China and concern from Washington. The office had, however, remained open in the interim. The Pacific has long been an area for diplomatic competition between China and ⁠Taiwan, ​which Beijing views as ⁠its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state. Taiwan's government rejects that position.

Neither the Papua New Guinea ⁠nor Chinese foreign ministries immediately responded to requests for comment. Taiwan has formal diplomatic ties with only three Pacific Islands nations: ​Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. It also has a representative office in Fiji. Just ⁠12 countries maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan's foreign ministry also said it had stopped buying LNG from Papua New Guinea through ⁠the ​spot market, which in the first half of 2026 was planned for about 500,000 metric tons. Taiwan will not sign any new spot natural gas purchase contracts with the country in the future, ⁠it added.

Taiwan has long been an important market for Papua New Guinea's natural gas exports, with purchases ⁠accounting for roughly a ⁠third of total LNG exports, its foreign ministry said. "So this change in procurement policy will have a substantive impact on Papua New Guinea's natural gas ‌exports and foreign exchange ‌earnings," it added.