Taiwan and China have become embroiled in a diplomatic spat on the Pacific island of Fiji, after government officials from both sides were allegedly injured during a fight at an event in a high-end hotel to mark Taiwan’s National Day.
The incident occurred amid growing tensions between Beijing and Taipei over Taiwan’s global status, and as both sides vie for diplomatic and economic influence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Monday that it had asked the Fijian police to investigate the October 8 incident.
The fight resulted in a Taiwanese diplomat being sent to hospital after trying to prevent two Chinese embassy officials from entering the venue to photograph people who were attending.
The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan - a democratic island of 24 million which it has never ruled - as its own territory. It tries to undermine Taiwan internationally and strongly objects to Taipei having independent ties with any other nations.
Taiwan, a strong US ally, has formal relations with four countries in the region, although not with Fiji.
According to the Taiwanese foreign ministry, two Chinese diplomats stormed into a celebration marking Taiwan’s national day to “harass” their guests.
When a Taiwanese diplomat tried to stop them, the confrontation turned violent and he ended up in hospital with a head injury. The Chinese officials were reportedly removed from the scene by the police.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the serious violations of the rule of law and civilised norms by the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Fiji,” said a spokesperson. A formal protest has been made to the Fiji government.
Speaking in parliament, Henry Tseng, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister condemned the “irrational acts” by Chinese diplomats and said Taiwan was still looking at whether this was an isolated incident or represented “common behaviour.”
Taiwan’s claims were backed up by an account in Asia Pacific Report, which reported that the Chinese diplomats had claimed immunity. The publication described the incident as a “big test” for Fiji’s government because of its close ties with Beijing.
The Chinese foreign ministry hit back on Monday afternoon, with spokesman Zhao Lijian blaming Taiwan for instigating the altercation and accusing the Taiwanese official of injuring his Chinese counterpart.
Mr Zhao stressed Beijing’s “one China policy,” which claims Taiwan as part of China, and said that Taiwan’s version of events was “inconsistent with the facts. The Taiwan side is a thief crying ‘stop thief!’”
Beijing has also called for a police investigation and objected to Taiwan holding a “National Day” event, with “an attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" internationally.”
The foreign ministry explained that it had been offended by the presence of a cake "marked by a false flag pattern," presumably referring to Taiwan's national flag.
"There are no so-called 'diplomats' from Taiwan in Fiji," claimed Mr Zhao.