Vohor was charged with contempt for comments he had made in parliament about Chief Justice Vincent Lunabek, but in September 2004 the Supreme Court threw out the charges on the grounds that Vohor had not been given the proper chance to defend himself in court, and that, furthermore, his comments were protected by parliamentary privilege. Vohor gained international attention when, on 3 November 2004, while on a secret visit to Taipei, he established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) without approval from the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers voted to void the move and asserted Vanuatu's continued recognition of the People's Republic of China under its terms of the One-China policy. For weeks, both the ROC and PRC had diplomatic missions in Vanuatu with disagreement in the government over which government to recognize. On 1 December, Vohor punched (or pushed) the shoulder of the new ambassador from Beijing, Bao Shusheng, after being approached to explain why the flag of the Republic of China was still flying over a hotel in Port Vila. After 16 members of parliament who had supported Vohor joined the opposition, depriving him of a majority and leaving him with 15 out of 52 seats, the opposition tried to hold a no-confidence vote against Vohor. Vohor attempted to prevent the vote in court, claiming that a new constitutional amendment barred no-confidence votes against a prime minister during his first year in office, but the Supreme Court ruled against him on 7 December, saying that the vote could go ahead because the new amendment had not yet been approved by referendum. Vohor then took the matter to the Court of Appeal, but it also ruled against him; he was defeated in the no-confidence vote and replaced by Ham Lini. Later career Since then Vohor has been the effective leader of the opposition. In March 2006 Vohor led an attempt to depose Lini through a no confidence vote, focusing on accusing Lini of weakness. However, the vote was defeated as not enough Parliament members who had supported the government defected. On 27 July 2007, Vohor, who was serving as Minister of Public Utilities, allegedly assaulted an official from the Finance Ministry due to his pay being delayed. Despite this allegation, there was no evidence to substantiate the assault ever taking place. In a cabinet reshuffle a few days later, he was one of several ministers