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.
Ministers at the forum, including New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, are debating the issue of whether to issue a joint statement on the missile and whether that statement should call out China directly or should use more generic language.
Tuaga said he hoped a statement would be issued.
“We don’t want to be intimidated by any powers. It’s not about what the Chinese had done, putting these dummy warheads; that’s not the way we want to be treated. That’s why we want to send a very strong statement from the Pacific as a collective.”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters with his forum counterparts. Photo / Thomas Coughlan
Tuaga said a statement would be reached “hopefully today”. He would not name the “couple” of countries that stood in the way.
“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?
“I believe this is the right time to issue a statement and deter any activities like that.”
He said he felt supported by New Zealand.
Before arriving at the meeting, Peters said whether the forum should compromise and issue a weak, non-specific statement on China’s July ballistic missile test, if that is what is required to issue a statement at all, is the “$64,000 question”.
The forum has been unable to issue a joint statement on the missile strike thanks to a dispute between countries with whom China has a strong relationship, preferring to issue a generic statement that did not single out China, and other countries in the forum, who wished for a more forthright and explicit condemnation of China specifically.
Peters and the New Zealand Government have been pushing for the latter – and will continue to do so when Pacific Islands Forum ministers meet in Suva today.
He met with his Australian counterpart, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, at Suva’s Grand Pacific Hotel shortly after breakfast this morning ahead of the meeting and discussed his position on the strike.
Peters said New Zealand would be pushing for a forthright statement, but was asked whether it might be better to issue a weak statement rather than no statement at all.
“Well that’s the $64,000 question actually,” he said, referencing an old American gameshow.
“It’s a very delicate issue. We’re going to be having an open dialogue today.”
Asked about any potential roadblocks, he said that one country in particular might have a “predetermined view” that it was not willing to shake.
“One party is zooming in [to the meeting] and the question becomes what predetermined decision did they make before the conversation. Therefore, we can’t determine at this point in time what might happen.”
Peters did not name this country, but a list of attendees distributed before the meeting said Kiribati’s foreign minister, President Taneti Maamau, would be attending the meeting virtually.