China closing mid-Pacific tracking station after Kiribati recognises Taiwan

26/11/2003 at 07:01:36

Date line: AUCKLAND
China was Wednesday hastily dismantling its mid-Pacific satellite tracking base following the decision of the tiny Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati to switch its diplomatic recognition to Taiwan, an eyewitness said.

Technicians were seen burning files at the high security compound on Tarawa Atoll in Kiribati, the witness said.

The closing down of the tracking station followed the decision of recently elected President Anote Tong on November 7 to switch its recognition from Beijing to rival Taiwan.

China, which continues to maintain its embassy on Tarawa, said Wednesday that it would suspend ties next week but by Wednesday had withdrawn its doctors from the only hospital and halted construction of a sports stadium.

The most dramatic action has centred on the satellite tracking station at the eastern end of Tarawa.

A station neighbour who did not want to be named told AFP that a Chinese ship arrived at Tarawa lagoon early this week, sparking action at the sprawling satellite base.

“It happened very suddenly,” he said.

“It looks like they are dismantling the place. I saw them move one of the dishes down the road….”

At the back of the compound the witness could see workers apparently burning files.

“It does look relatively deserted and the gates that are normally closed are currently open. There is no sign of activity, it’s as though they have done the bulk of their work quite rapidly and quite covertly in the last couple of days.”

Radio Kiribati quoted Chinese Ambassador Ma Shuxue as saying Beijing would suspend relations next week if ties were maintained with Taiwan.

In the last week the ambassador has tried to persuade key Kiribati politicians to reverse the decision.

Former president Ieremia Tabai told AFP that Ma Shuxue had invited him to the embassy in a bid to persuade the government to change its mind.

“They wanted me to try and convince the government to reverse the decision.

“I told them it was impossible as the government was solid in its support of the decision, and so was the country. It would be very hard to reverse the decision.”

During elections last year the Chinese ambassador admitted to giving money to politicians linked to the then president, Teburoro Tito.

The satellite station, which China two months ago said played a key role in its historic manned space flight last month, is on sparsely populated Bonriki islet near the international airport.

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The existence of the tracking station was little known until 1999 when an AFP reporter visited it with a former Kiribati cabinet minister. At the time the dishes were aligned northwards towards the US Army missile testing base at the Marshall Islands’ Kwajalein Atoll, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away.

Kwajalein is a vast base for testing ballistic missiles fired from California and is also used for developing the US missile defence system.

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Wonder if it really was for satts..