Mombasa: Taiwan's government announced its withdrawal from the 11th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) in Mombasa after two of its delegation members were detained by Kenyan immigration authorities. The detention, allegedly due to Chinese pressure, occurred when the delegates were denied entry to a pre-conference event.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) reported that the event organizers refused to recognize Taiwan's passport, leading to the denial of accreditation for the delegates. Subsequently, two members of Taiwan's delegation were detained for 20 hours, during which their passports and cellphones were confiscated by Kenyan immigration authorities.

Following their release, the detained delegates left Kenya and returned to Taiwan. In light of this incident, other members of the Taiwanese delegation who were scheduled to attend the June 16-18 conference, including OAC members, opted not to participate in this year's OOC.

MOFA stated that the withdrawal decision was a response to the "extremely unfriendly gestures" by the Kenyan government and was intended to ensure the safety of Taiwanese delegates. Both MOFA and the OAC suggested that Kenya's actions were influenced by political pressure from the People's Republic of China (PRC).

According to MOFA, Taiwan has participated in the OOC since 2015 without facing similar challenges. The conference has been hosted by countries such as the United States, South Korea, Panama, Palau, Greece, Indonesia, and Chile.

MOFA emphasized that Taiwan will not be intimidated by China's actions and will continue to collaborate with the international community on maritime affairs. Meanwhile, the OAC urged OOC organizers to address the treatment of Taiwanese delegates in Kenya and to secure Taiwan's participation in future international events.

The OOC, initiated in 2014 by the U.S. government, is a platform for scientists, NGOs, and businesses to commit to ocean conservation, sustainability, and climate action. Taiwan's delegation included representatives from academia, the OAC, MOFA, and the TaiwanICDF foreign aid agency.