Taiwan has said it will close its representative office in Papua New Guinea and withdraw all its staff, blaming pressure from China for the decision.

The foreign ministry in Taipei announced the move on Friday 6 November, saying Papua New Guinea had repeated demands that its personnel leave the office in Port Moresby by a set deadline and had pushed for the facility to close.

The ministry said 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". Neither the Papua New Guinea nor the Chinese foreign ministries immediately responded to requests for comment.

The dispute dates back to July, when Papua New Guinea's foreign minister said his government had decided to close the office immediately, a move praised by Beijing and viewed with concern in Washington. Taipei rejected the decision and the office stayed open.

Aid programmes and gas purchases end

Alongside the withdrawal, Taiwan said it would end the technical cooperation, medical missions, scholarships and training it had provided through the office. It also said it had stopped buying liquefied natural gas from Papua New Guinea on the spot market and would sign no new spot purchase contracts.

Spot purchases planned for the first half of 2026 had been about 500,000 metric tons. Taiwan's purchases account for roughly a third of Papua New Guinea's liquefied natural gas exports, and the ministry said the change "will have a substantive impact on Papua New Guinea's natural gas exports and foreign exchange earnings".

Papua New Guinea briefly held diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1999. Taiwan now maintains formal ties with 12 countries, including the Pacific states of Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, and also has a representative office in Fiji.