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Pacific Islands Forum

Pacific Islands Forum
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Pacific Islands Forum. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a long-range ballistic missile bursts out of the sea during a test launched from a Chinese nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific on July 6. Photo: Xinhua via AP
Defence

Letters | Missile test shows major-power rivalry is spilling into the Pacific

Readers discuss the fallout of China’s recent missile test, the massive protests in India sparked by exam irregularities, and dwindling sales at the Hong Kong Book Fair.

US-China relations

‘Textbook misinformation’: China rejects New Zealand security accusations

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Pacific nations

Controversy as Solomon Islands freezes out all Pacific Islands Forum partners

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Climate change

Opinion | World Court’s ruling opens the door wider for climate justice

The court’s decision could result in legal action against countries that fail to honour their climate commitments.

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On July 19, children play with swings on an uprooted tree along a beach in Mele, Vanuatu that was once lined with vegetation lost to storms, erosion and other environmental pressures. Photo: AP
Mainland China

China pledges deeper law enforcement ties with Pacific Island nations

In high-level talks in Beijing with 11 states, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi offers closer collaboration on trade, climate, security.

Pacific nations

Opinion | Why we must follow Pacific Islands’ lead on climate change

Pacific Islands nations show how cooperation can transcend national boundaries to address common challenges effectively. They need support.

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US-China relations

US, Britain stress unity towards China as new strategic dialogue opens in London

Top diplomats tout allies’ strengthening ties and ‘indispensable’ partnership as Washington vies to blunt Beijing’s Indo-Pacific influence.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy attend a press conference as part of a strategic dialogue in London on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Taiwan

No 2 Taiwan official visiting US for 2 weeks seeks ‘better understanding’

Speculation about how much Washington trusts island’s new leader looms over tour by Democratic Progressive Party’s secretary general.

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US-China relations

As No 2 US envoy ends Pacific tour, Beijing scores a diplomatic win on Taiwan

After Beijing envoy demands ‘correction’, Pacific Islands Forum scraps Taiwan reference from its annual summit’s final communique.

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Diplomacy

China vows to help Fiji tackle climate change in push for greater Pacific role

President Xi Jinping made the pledge along with promises of economic support in a meeting with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka

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Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka arrives at the Great Hall of the People for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: AP
Pacific nations

French response in New Caledonia risks helping China: analysts

French President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitions to deepen French influence in the Pacific, where China is expanding its security ties, could be put at risk by the heavy-handed response to civil unrest in New Caledonia

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France deployed troops to New Caledonia’s ports and international airport, banned TikTok and imposed a state of emergency after three nights of clashes that have left four dead and hundreds wounded. Photo: AFP
Pacific nations

US rejects Chinese envoy’s claim it illegally boarded fishing boats in Pacific

China’s ambassador to New Zealand had called the use of ‘shiprider’ pacts between the US and Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea to ‘carry out law enforcement activities against China’s fishing vessels’ a violation of international law.

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Pacific nations

Tuvalu’s Taiwan ties in the balance as Pacific nation gets new PM

The issue of diplomatic recognition is up for debate in the island nation, one of only three remaining Pacific allies of Taiwan. The new prime minister’s position on the subject has not been made public.

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Japan

What can Japan offer Pacific nations amid growing Chinese influence?

Japan’s renewed focus on Pacific nations comes amid regional concern about Fukushima waste water discharge and as Chinese influence grows.

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Protesters on the streets of Fiji’s capital city Suva rally against Japan’s release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean in August last year. Photo: AFP
Pacific nations

Chinese police work in Kiribati as Beijing widens Pacific ties to counter US

Kiribati’s acting police commissioner said Chinese officers were assisting their local counterparts on community policing and a crime database programme.

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Kiribati controls one of the biggest exclusive economic zones in the world. Photo: Getty Images
US-China relations

‘Plan for punishment’: will Beijing dial up deterrence after Taiwan election?

Following Nauru’s diplomatic switch, mainland China is expected to further restrict the island’s international space.

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Pacific nations

Australia-Tuvalu treaty sparks fears of population drain, threat to sovereignty

Australia’s agreement with Tuvalu may provide younger locals with a migration pathway but is seen by older islanders as an encroachment of sovereignty.

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Pacific nations

Solomon Islands hosts China-funded Pacific Games amid big-power rivalry

Solomon Islands’ PM Manasseh Sogavare has alarmed the West with his pro-Beijing engagement and increasingly authoritarian reflexes. He told This Week in Asia that Honiara’s ties with China ‘were never better’.

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Fans at the China-built 10,000-seater stadium for the Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Photo: Christopher Cottrell
Pacific nations

Cracks emerge in Pacific island unity as leaders skip meet amid US-China rivalry

The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands will not attend this week’s annual Pacific Islands Forum, which also counts Australia and New Zealand among its members.

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US-China relations

China and US diplomats overseeing Asian affairs meet to discuss region

China’s Vice-Foreign Minister for Asia Sun Weidong meets Daniel Kritenbrink, US Assistant Secretary of State, for ‘candid, in-depth and constructive consultation’ on regional issues, including Taiwan and maritime issues.

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US-China relations

Biden unveils Pacific nations aid, embassies as Solomons PM sits out

American leader extols ‘security, prosperity and dignity’ for Oceanic allies and partners in latest response to China’s decades-long inroads in region.

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US President Joe Biden walks to join a photo opportunity with Pacific Islands Forum leaders at the White House on Monday. Photo: Photo: ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
US-China relations

Biden to meet Pacific Island nations as US-China attention stays high

Summit between American president and region’s leaders will be second in a year as Washington seeks to counter Beijing’s push for clout.

US President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One in New York on Sunday ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: AP
Asean

Opinion | No Biden, no problem: Asean just has to forge its own path

Joe Biden’s no-show at next month’s Asean Summit is a calculated decision taken in US interests. Instead of feeling slighted, the bloc should redouble its efforts to strengthen intraregional integration and seize emerging opportunities for strategic cooperation.

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Science

China and Russia accuse Japan of dumping Fukushima water for cost reasons

A joint submission to the IAEA by Moscow and Beijing said heating and then evaporating the water would be safer, but this option would be more expensive.

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Pacific nations

Pacific Islands leaders meet amid political crisis

Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party are meeting to consider declaring a ‘region of peace and neutrality’, as the nations are at the centre of a geopolitical contest.

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At the White House in Washington, in September last year, President Joe Biden poses with leaders from the US- Pacific Island Country Summit. Photo: Reuters
Japan

Opinion | Japan should heed fishing industry fears about Fukushima discharge plan

The Pacific fishing industry, stressed from climate change and overfishing, does not need additional challenges. Amid concerns about marine life and food safety, Tokyo should apply the precautionary principle.

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Demonstrators hold signs reading “No dumping” and “No to the sea, yes in the land” at a protest against Japan’s Fukushima waste water discharge plan, in Seoul, South Korea, on July 8. The proposal has also been criticised by China and is opposed by Japan’s fishing industry. Photo: Bloomberg
Japan

Opinion | Fragile oceans should not be dumping ground for Fukushima waste water

Doubts remain over whether Japan’s treatment system for the radioactive waste water and its subsequent dilution in our oceans will make it safe. Importantly, we cannot afford to upset our fragile marine ecosystem.

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Japan

Letters | What G7’s non-opposition to Japan’s nuclear waste water plan says

Readers discuss the rich world’s support for the Fukushima water release plan, a win-win for Hong Kong and golf, and a compromise on Fanling.

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