Push Admin

Kiribati's pro-Beijing leader re-elected: state media

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - The pro-China president of Kiribati has won reelection, state media in the tiny Pacific nation reported Tuesday, fending off a challenge from his Taiwan-supporting rival.Radio Kiribati said incumbent Taneti Maamau garnered 26,053 votes to claim a second four-year term, finishing more than 8,000 ahead of opposition leader Banuera Berina.&quot;The president-elect of Kiribati is Taneti Maamau,&quot; Chief Justice John Muria told the radio station.&quot;Congratulations Taneti Maamau and congratulations to the people of Kiribati. God bless you all.&quot;Maamau switched Kiribati&#x27;s allegiance from Taiwan to China in September last year, just a few days after another Pacific nation, the Solomon Islands, did the same.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/09/20/19/taiwan-cuts-ties-with-kiribati-amid-china-tension">Taiwan cuts ties with Kiribati amid China tension</a></li></ul>Berina was highly critical of the move and praised Taiwan, raising the possibility he could rekindle ties with Taipei, which has been engaged in a battle for diplomatic influence with Beijing in the Pacific.At the time of the switch, Taiwan accused China of engaging in &quot;dollar diplomacy&quot; to buy off its few remaining allies.China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war on the mainland in 1949, but Beijing sees the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold.Taiwan and China have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries, with economic support and other aid often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition.The island nation of Kiribati, with a population of about 110,000, is a collection of 33 far-flung atolls and reefs scattered over an area the size of the continental United States that sits about halfway between Australia and Hawaii.<div>ns/dm/jah</div><div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

The pro-China president of Kiribati has won reelection, state media in the tiny Pacific nation reported Tuesday, fending off a challenge from his Taiwan-supporting rival.

The pro-China president of Kiribati has won reelection, state media in the tiny Pacific nation reported Tuesday, fending off a challenge from his Taiwan-supporting rival.