TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Failing to reopen Papua New Guinea’s trade office in Taiwan as soon as possible would be foolish, according to an editorial published in one of the country’s major newspapers on Friday (June 10).

The article was published in The National, which claims to be the country’s top selling newspaper. It casts doubts on the country’s official reason for closing the office; not being able to justify the financial cost.

The article suggests the office may have been closed because of the “push and pull of international geo-politics in that part of the world, which currently has Taiwan at its epicenter.” It said the trade relationship between Taiwan and Papua New Guinea alone is sufficient justification for a trade office.

“… In 2021, the total trade value had risen to 2,628.46 million Papua New Guinean Kina (nearly NT$23 billion) and the trade surplus, in PNG’s favor, is at K2,336.98 million,” the article said.

The article referenced the massive demand for energy generated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), and the potential for Papua New Guinea to export its natural gas resources to meet that demand. This presents a lucrative business opportunity for PNG, considering Taiwan’s decision to phase out nuclear power by 2025,” the article said.

“Fear of a Chinese reprisal is without basis,” the author wrote, noting the trade offices that Australia and New Zealand maintain in Taiwan, and the trade agreements Taiwan has with China itself. PNG has nil capacity; indeed, it has no design to impact or influence the political outcomes of the China-Taiwan skirmish. It is not its business.”

When the office’s closure was announced in January, Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said the country could no longer justify it financially, and denied it was a concession to China. Tkatchenko also said the poor behavior of one of its representatives in Taipei in 2022 had brought shame on the country.

Papua New Guinea’s government statistics agency does not keep data on trade with Taiwan, but natural gas exports are consistently the country’s most valuable export by a significant margin. Natural gas is the third largest source of energy in Taiwan, after coal and petroleum products, and accounted for just over 18% of the country’s energy supply in 2021.

The National is owned and published by Rimbunan Hijau Group, a Malaysian multinational that has oil and gas operations. Rimbunan Hijau also has logging operations in Papua New Guinea that export to Taiwan.