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Pacific nations
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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.
The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier transits the South China Sea. A strategy for responding to crises in the South China Sea will be high on the agenda of the 2027 US defence bill. Photo: EPA-EFE/US NAVY
US-China relations

5 things to watch out for in 2027 US defence bill aimed at countering China

Involving more than US$1 trillion in proposed defence spending, competition with Beijing looms large across its varied legislative span.

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Fiji

Fiji islanders brave rising seas to protect their ‘US$100 million views’

US-China relations

US, allies and China vie for influence through Pacific security deals

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Australia

Australia commits US$44 million to boost East Timor’s cyber, maritime security

Australia has recently struck defence and economic agreements with Pacific nations designed to limit China’s security role.

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Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (second right) joins leaders from (from left) Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and East Timor for the Pacific Pre-COP31 Summit in Funafuti, Tuvalu, on October 6. Photo: AFP
Fiji

Fiji’s justice minister resigns after intimate video goes viral online

Siromi Turaga will continue as an MP and a member of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s People’s Alliance party.

Tonga

China’s Pacific island ties not part of ‘geopolitical rivalry’, Wang Yi says

As US and China vie for influence in South Pacific, top diplomat stresses that Beijing remains a reliable partner to developing countries.

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Samoa

Pro-Israel Samoa prime minister apologises for Nazi gesture in leaked video

Schmidt has previously voiced his support for Israel and has committed to opening an embassy in Jerusalem by the end of the year.

A screengrab from a viral video shows Samoan Prime Minister La’auli Leuatea Schmidt giving a Nazi salute. Photo: Handout
South China Sea

Why China is weighing into the debate on how to respond to shrinking coastlines

Rising sea levels are not an existential threat to China, but their impact on international law could have a knock-on effect in other areas.

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United States

Opinion | Pacific island states are trapped in Cold War 2.0

Geopolitically, it’s like a feudal hierarchy: small island nations as vassals, Australia and New Zealand as local lords and the US as king.

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Taiwan

Taipei donates coastguard vessel to Manila amid South China Sea tensions

As it faces off against Beijing in the region, Manila has been expanding its unofficial security cooperation with Taipei.

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The Taiwanese coastguard’s Kinmen patrol vessel has reportedly been transferred to the Philippines. Photo: cga.gov.tw
US-China relations

US port pledge ups China rivalry in Pacific but island nations stick to own course

Washington commits millions of dollars at last week’s regional leaders’ forum in Palau, but experts say it will not be that simple.

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Member nations’ flags fly outside the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Koror, Palau, on September 3. Photo: Kyodo
Australia

Australia nears treaty with Solomon Islands in bid to limit China’s influence

Canberra has pledged US$708 million in extra funding for Honiara as part of the deal expected to be signed in the coming weeks.

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United Nations

France digs in on Pacific islands claim as Vanuatu turns to World Court

Vanuatu says it will seek UN General Assembly opinion if Paris does not accept the ICJ’s jurisdiction on the disputed outcrops.

New Zealand

Exclusive | New Zealand ‘must never be seen as a proxy’, former PM Helen Clark warns

Calling the US Pacific strategy a ‘game of bluff’, Clark urges Wellington to defend its independent foreign policy tradition.

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New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark. Photo: AFP
China-Australia relations

In Focus | How Pacific nations walk a tightrope between Western security and Chinese trade

As Australia expands defence pacts in the region, Beijing courts local communities with ‘small and beautiful’ aid.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
New Zealand

Cook Islands PM re-elected despite row with New Zealand over China ties

The result shows that local voters are not as concerned about geopolitical issues as claimed in earlier reports, analysts say.

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Environment

Opinion | The race for critical minerals is clearing the path for deep-sea mining

Corporate pressure and US-China competition are stalling global efforts to set environmental safeguards for seabed mining.

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Solomon Islands

Solomon port plans mark US reset of ‘anaemic’ Pacific ties

The move aims to ensure Honiara partners with Western allies in sectors with security implications, analysts say.

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The port in Honiara, capital city of Solomon Islands in April 2024. Photo: AFP
New Zealand

New Zealand’s Pacific defence diplomacy shifts into overdrive

Wellington’s four-month diplomatic blitz aims to lock down regional allies as Washington’s commitment wavers.

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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.

Mainland China

China’s missile test exposes lack of unity among Pacific island nations

While some Pacific Islands Forum members have criticised the test near Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea appears to have backtracked, analysts say.

A ballistic missile test launched from a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine in the South Pacific on July 6. Photo: Xinhua/AP
US-China relations

Top Chinese South Pacific security partner to let US patrol its waters

Agreement will allow US vessels to patrol with local police as Honiara expands maritime ties with Washington despite close Beijing links.

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Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has announced plans for a maritime agreement allowing the US Coast Guard to patrol the country’s waters alongside local police. Photo: EPA
Taiwan

Taiwan reviews PNG LNG imports after forced closure of economic office

The Pacific nation and Cambodia have both handed Beijing diplomatic wins by reiterating support for the one-China policy.

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New Zealand

Australia, Fiji and now New Zealand: a new Pacific alliance takes shape

Wellington’s bid to join the pact flags a hard-security pivot, but analysts ask if such treaties serve Pacific societies’ best interests.

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Solomon Islands

China sends a message to Pacific islands amid unease over missile test

Solomons prime minister has pledged to review China pact while advancing talks on a comprehensive treaty with Australia.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks in Beijing on Tuesday with Rick Houenipwela, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of the Solomon Islands. Photo: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
New Zealand

New Zealand-India trade, defence pact celebrated despite criticism

Anti-immigration members of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s coalition and anti-Modi members of the Indian diaspora opposed the deal.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Saturday. Photo: AFP
China's military weapons

Opinion | Panic over China’s missile test is born of Western bias

Every nuclear power routinely tests its arsenal. The outcry over Beijing’s launch reveals a glaring double standard.

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Australia

Australia, Fiji sign mutual defence pact to boost Pacific security

Australia has greatly upped its diplomatic efforts in the region following China’s secretive security deal with the Solomon Islands in 2022.

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