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Pacific nations

Pacific nations
Pacific nations
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Pacific nations. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
US President Donald Trump meets fishermen and women from American Samoa in the White House last year as he signs a proclamation expanding US fishing rights in the Pacific. Photo: EPA-EFE
Mainland China

US strips moral framing from foreign aid in ‘America first’ pivot

US funding for the Asia-Pacific now ties aid to business and security wins, a move analysts condemn as a ‘corrosive’ shift.

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United States

World welcomes 2026 with fireworks, lightshows and hopes for peace

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US-China relations

China’s rebuilding of Micronesian airport runway raises alarm in US

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US-China relations

US denies Indo-Pacific retreat, says aid is being recalibrated to counter China

Washington argues that targeted assistance and partnerships will deepen regional ties and deliver longer-term economic and security gains.

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A toll booth at the Clark Freeport Zone in the Philippines, a sprawling managed economic zone that has received significant US backing through development initiatives. Photo: Handout
Russia

How sanctioned Russian oil flows freely via a tiny Pacific island nation

Some 20 tankers registered in the microstate allegedly smuggled Russian and Iranian fuel between 2024 and 2025 amid lax oversight.

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China-New Zealand relations

China and Cook Islands team up on marine survey as rare earths race expands to sea

Nine-day voyage comes just weeks after a US research ship conducts its own survey in the region.

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Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands’ defence force dream: an Australia-China flashpoint?

A military force would help quell unrest, but some say relying on Beijing for arms may make the Pacific nation an ‘enemy state’ of the West.

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Royal Solomon Islands Police Force officers train with a Chinese police liaison team in 2022. Photo: RSIPF/AFP
China-Australia relations

Call for ‘Pacific Eyes’ intelligence body to offset China’s growing presence

Think tank proposes dedicated alliance – initially with Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji – to avoid being ‘blindsided’.

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New Zealand

New Zealand calls on US to counter China’s Pacific mineral push

New Zealand wants stronger ties with the US to shield Pacific allies from exploitation amid rare earth riches and growing geopolitical threats.

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Environment

A ‘ghost fleet’ of Japan’s rusting WWII wrecks is poisoning this Pacific paradise

After 80 years at the bottom of a remote Pacific lagoon, a sunken Japanese warship has begun to spill its toxic cargo into the environment.

Chuuk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia, around 5,800km west of Hawaii. Photo: Julian Ryall
US-China relations

US Congress urged to curb China’s influence in Indo-Pacific

Delegates maintain Beijing’s grey-zone campaign against Taiwan is a deliberate strategy designed to erode confidence, and it must fail to deliver any political concessions.

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A Chinese Coast Guard ship uses a water cannon on a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. Photo: AFP
Australia

What Australia’s ‘Pukpuk’ pact with Papua New Guinea means for the Pacific

While China has voiced misgivings, the pact is seen as necessary by some – even if it could draw Australia into PNG’s domestic conflicts.

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New Zealand

US$3.6 million compensation for Samoa after New Zealand navy ship sinks on reef

The ecological impact of the wreck of the HMNZS Manawanui, which remains at the site a year later, is still being assessed.

Australia

Will Australia’s defence pact with Papua New Guinea curb China’s Pacific sway?

The defence treaty strengthens ties, counters China’s influence, and offers PNG citizens a path to Australian citizenship.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape attend a flag lowering ceremony in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on September 16. Photo: AP
Vanuatu

Pacific Islands leaders call for ‘ocean of peace’ but face rough seas at summit

The Pacific Islands Forum has been clouded by allegations that host Solomon Islands did not invite Taiwan to please its close backer.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa receives a gift from a Solomon Islander during the opening ceremony on Monday. Photo: Xinhua
Australia

Australia to send immigrants to Nauru after signing deal, including for funding

The deal is set to affect more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes.

Nato

‘We must invest’: New Zealand seeks to shed its ‘pretty slack’ defence image

Analysts suggest Wellington’s new US$5.2 billion defence plan is a hedge against pressure from Donald Trump’s White House.

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US-China relations

‘Textbook misinformation’: China rejects New Zealand security accusations

Annual report says New Zealand faces rising threats of foreign interference and spying; accuses Beijing of being ‘most active’ player.

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New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on a trip to Beijing in June. Photo: Xinhua via AP
Solomon Islands

Controversy as Solomon Islands freezes out all Pacific Islands Forum partners

Observers say the ‘pragmatic compromise’ aims to create space for Pacific-only dialogue and stop geopolitics from tearing the PIF apart.

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United Nations

Plastic pollution talks in disarray as nations reject draft treaty

Some countries blasted the lack of legally binding action, while oil-producing states say the text goes too far.

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US-China relations

Beijing denies threat as FBI opens new office in New Zealand to ‘counter China’

FBI director Kash Patel says Wellington office shows the agency is ‘prioritising a permanent presence across all Five Eyes countries’.

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US FBI Director Kash Patel opened the bureau’s new New Zealand office in Wellington on Thursday. Photo: Getty
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
Israel-Gaza war

My Take | Taiwan donation vow to Israeli settlement is cynical and foolish

Fulfilling the pledge would be a violation of international law, as Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank is universally recognised as illegal.

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Australia

Australia, US push Pacific deterrence amid China’s security overtures

Analysts note the significance of Papua New Guinea and Fiji’s unprecedented involvement in this year’s ‘Olympics of war games’.

France

France, New Caledonia reach ‘historic’ statehood deal; citizens to remain French

After years of deadlock and violence, France and New Caledonia agreed to create a ‘State of New Caledonia’ within France, granting residents a new nationality concept.

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A French flag is seen in the foreground as and luxury yachts are moored at a port in Noumea, New Caledonia. Photo: Christina Pfeiffer
Fiji

Fiji rejects idea of Chinese military bases in Pacific islands

‘If they want to come, who would welcome them?’ Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Wednesday. ‘Not Fiji’.

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Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an Apec summit in San Francisco in 2023. Photo: Xinhua
Diplomacy

Tiny Pacific nations fear US travel bans. Why?

Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu all appeared on a list of nations facing new visa curbs. A US official says Washington has ‘valid concerns’.

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New Zealand

Will New Zealand’s ‘patronising’ aid freeze push Cook Islands closer to China?

The funding cut leaves the Cook Islands facing a sudden financial shortfall, prompting warnings that Wellington’s approach could backfire.

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