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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.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi has urged Pacific island nations to continue upholding the one-China principle. Beijing has sought to persuade Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies in the region to switch formal recognition from Taipei. Photo: Reuters
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

South China Sea

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

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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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A family photo during the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Koror, Palau, on September 2. Photo: AAP via Reuters
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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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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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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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to reporters during the Pacific Islands Forum in Koror, Palau, on Thursday. Photo: AP
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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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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Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown speaks at a Pacific Islands Forum meeting in 2024. Photo: AP
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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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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Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (left) meets with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, in 2025. Photo: AFP
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.

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
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.

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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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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Papua New Guinea exports more than 1.2 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to Taiwan each year under a 20-year supply agreement. Photo: Reuters
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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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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A long-range ballistic missile bursts out of the sea during a test launched from a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine in the South Pacific on Monday. Photo: Xinhua/AP
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.

Vanuatu

Vanuatu bans ‘foreign’ military bases in new security pact with Australia

The treaty is the latest in a string of Pacific deals Australia has signed seeking to curb China’s expanding security influence.

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Australia

Australia refuses release of climate fund reports for Pacific nation Tuvalu

The island relies on a trust fund exposed to fossil fuels to help pay for the cost of climate change, with Australia the biggest contributor.

An aerial view of a strip of land in Funafuti, Tuvalu, in 2019. The low-lying South Pacific island nation of about 11,000 people is extremely vulnerable to climate change. Photo: Getty Images
Australia

China’s direct strike threat to Australia is ‘growing’, think tank report finds

A Lowy Institute report said the main threat to Australia was from Chinese missiles fired from ships, submarines and a new ballistic missile.

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The Chinese People’s Liberation Army launches an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean in 2024. Photo: Chinese People’s Liberation Army News and Communication Centre / AFP
China-Japan relations

Rising seas: Japan makes pitch to Pacific nations caught in US-China rivalry

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi tells summit that Tokyo is committed to helping regional partners strengthen ‘autonomy and resilience’.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Pacific Islanders skip food, medicine amid global fuel shortage from Iran war

Pacific nations are the most reliant on diesel for power generation worldwide. They imported about 2.2 million tonnes of fuel in 2025.

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