Pacific leaders remove Taiwan from communique after China complaint

SYDNEY -The PacificPacificPacific Islands Forum removed references to Taiwan from a group communique after complaints from China - a change Taipei condemned as a "rude intervention" but which a forum official said did not alter the leaders' decisions.

The communique released on Friday from the 18-nation summit included a section headed "Relations with Taiwan/Republic of China", stating "Leaders reaffirmed the 1992 Leaders decision on relations with Taiwan/Republic of China".

After an angry response from a Chinese envoy, the communique was removed from the forum's website that evening, and a new document was posted on Saturday morning with the references to Taiwan removed.