World News

Tuvalu’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs says his Government asked China for help in locating the missile it fired into the ocean around his country in July.

Pasuna Tuaga told reporters at the Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers meeting that he had asked partners, including Australia, France, the United States and China itself, with locating the missile on the sea floor, which was nuclear-capable but carried a dummy warhead.

Tuaga said he made the remarks in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the government of Tuvalu.

“We approached the Chinese themselves … they didn’t want to mention anything.”

He said Tuvalu heard no response to its request. Tuvalu is one of the tiny number of countries that has diplomatic relations with Taiwan and not the People’s Republic of China.

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Despite the missile splashing down close to Tuvalu, he said the country had no warning from China, unlike Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, which were given prior warning.

He asked reporters to imagine how they would feel if a missile had been fired in the direction of their countries without warning.

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“Imagine it was a real one [warhead]... do we have to wait until we are hit by a real one and then issue a statement?

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