Taiwan's foreign ministry has dismissed a Solomon Islands newspaper report accusing Taipei of practising "checkbook diplomacy" in the South Pacific, saying the article "deviated from the truth" and was "driven by malicious intent.", Focus Taiwan reported on September 2.

The dispute centres on Palau, one of only three Pacific states that still recognise Taipei rather than Beijing, alongside the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. The Solomon Islands switched recognition to China in 2019, part of a run of diplomatic losses that has left Taiwan with a shrinking circle of formal allies.

The report, published by the Solomon Star, alleged that "Taiwan's foreign ministry reportedly allocated nearly $281,000 in direct cash gifts for Palauan political figures" in order to secure backing at the Pacific Islands Forum. The paper said the sum included $30,000 for the former president, $5,000 each for senior executive and legislative figures and $2,000 for individual lawmakers.

"Taiwan [also] increased its annual aid to Palau from $18mn last year to $25mn this year," the outlet wrote, citing only unnamed reports. It did not specify the currency.

The Solomons shifted its diplomatic allegiance to China from Taiwan in 2019 after 36 years of recognising Taipei. The the time, with China already the Solomon Islands' dominant export market, particularly for timber. Beijing offered large infrastructure projects and development financing on a scale Taiwan could not match. An ANU study says a Chinese infrastructure-heavy package from the period was estimated at about $500mn.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said its cooperation projects with Palau and other diplomatic allies are designed around local needs and carried out under the administrative procedures of both governments. The ministry said its methods follow the same principles used by like-minded countries running similar projects across the Pacific.

Taiwan's MOFA also said some Solomon Islands media outlets are on China's payroll, citing foreign media reports, and pointed to the latest article as an example. It offered no evidence or attribution for that assertion.

A 2023 investigation by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a US-based non-profit investigative journalism group, found that the Solomon Star had received close to $140,000 in funding from the Chinese government, pledging in return to promote China's generosity and its intentions to help develop the country.