Kiribati’s pro-China government bars foreign officials from visiting until 2025, citing elections

Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The government of Kiribati is suspending all diplomatic visits to the Pacific Island nation until next year, citing its current election process, according to an official in the Foreign Ministry. The message sent this week to countries with which Kiribati has diplomatic ties follows escalating friction between the island nation and Western powers over the country’s deepening ties with China. A vote this month elected 44 lawmakers to Kiribati’s parliament but a government has yet to be formed. The president will be chosen by public vote in October.