Nauru's president has demanded China apologise for a top diplomat's "crazy" behaviour at the Pacific Islands Forum and lashed out at Beijing's "arrogant" presence in the region.
"They're not our friends. They just need us for their own purposes," President Baron Waqa told reporters.
"Sorry, but I have to be strong on this because no one is to come and dictate things to us." This year's annual Pacific summit, which wraps up in Nauru on Thursday, has been one of the most contentious in the event's 49-year history.
The usual discussions about climate change have been overshadowed by the host's row with China and its treatment of asylum-seekers held on the island under a deal with Australia.
The diplomatic spat pits Nauru -- with a population of 11,000 and an area of just 21 square kilometres (eight square miles) -- against the Asian superpower.
It erupted on Tuesday when the head of China's delegation Du Qiwen attempted to address a meeting but Waqa refused to let him speak until island leaders had finished.
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The Chinese delegation then stormed out, with Du reportedly striding around the room to emphasise his displeasure before leaving.
"Would he behave like that in front of his own president? I doubt it," Waqa said at a press conference late Wednesday.
"He disrespected the Pacific, the forum island leaders and other ministers who have come to join us in our territory. Are you kidding? Look at him, he's a nobody. "He's not even a minister and he's demanding to be recognised and to speak before the prime minister of Tuvalu. Is he crazy?"
"We won't just seek an apology, we'll even take it up to the UN," he said. "Not only that, I will mention it at the UN and every international meeting."
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