Tuvalu lawmakers chose former attorney general Feleti Teo as prime minister

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tuvalu lawmakers have chosen Feleti Teo as prime minister of the tiny South Pacific nation after the last government leader was ousted in elections. A Tuvalu official said in an email that lawmakers chose the former attorney general Monday after former prime minister and Taiwan supporter Kausea Natano failed to retain his seat in the 16-seat Parliament. It was not immediately clear how the new government will affect China’s influence in the tiny country of around 11,500 people half way between Australia and Hawaii. Natano had wanted Tuvalu to remain one of only 12 countries that have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the self-government democratic island that China claims as its own territory.