Bao Shusheng, China's ambassador to Vanuatu, confirmed reports
on Monday afternoon that the Pacific republic's prime minister,
Serge Vohor, had pushed his shoulder hard. The incident occurred as
a parliamentary session ended in the capital, Port Vila, on
November 22.
He said he had used diplomatic channels to express his opinion
to the Vanuatuan government on this behavior.
After finding a Taiwanese flag flying outside a restaurant that
had been used as Taiwan's temporary embassy, he and other officials
went to the parliament to discuss the matter with the foreign
minister.
Outside the parliament, Bao stepped forward to exchange
greetings with Vohor, who had just left a meeting. But when he
asked Vohor to explain the flag, the prime minister pushed Bao's
right shoulder hard. Then Vohor turned and rushed into his car.
Bao's secretary, Feng Shaolin, witnessed the whole incident and
backed his version of events.
Bao said he felt surprised after the episode, and that when he
talked about it to other Vanuatuan government officials they all
expressed incomprehension.
The local newspaper reported the incident, and some Vanuatuan
officials who had read the news apologized to Bao and criticized
Vohor's behavior.
So far, Vohor has not apologized to Bao.
Bao emphasized that the incident only constituted a personal
act, and should not be interpreted as Vanuatu's attitude toward
China.
With respect to Vohor's signing of a formal diplomatic
recognition agreement with Taiwan, Bao said that the country's
Council of Ministers has twice rejected it, meaning there are still
no diplomatic relations between them.
(Beijing Times December 7, 2004, translated by Li
Shen)