A reporter of the Agence France Presse yesterday claimed that they were barred from the press conference hosted by China State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Solomon Islands.
In yesterday’s media conference with Spokesperson Wang Wenbin, the unnamed AFP reporter raised this issue saying that AFP journalists were not given access to the media conference and only state media were allowed to ask questions.
To this, Wang said, “As far as I know, all mainstream media of Solomon Islands attended today’s joint press conference of foreign ministers of China and Solomon Islands. We respect the arrangement of the host country.”
He said yesterday that he had just shared some information regarding State Councilor Wang’s visit and he offered to release more information as soon as they become available.
Foreign Minister Wang is visiting the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea and will hold virtual meetings with Federated States of Micronesia, Niue and the Cook Islands. It was reported earlier that China is hoping to get these Pacific island countries to endorse the Common Development Vision, a sweeping agreement encompassing a gamut of areas that maybe tackled in the forthcoming meeting in Fiji.
Radio New Zealand broke the news of a leaked document and FSM’s opposition to it.