Pacific nations
TOPIC
 / location

Pacific nations

Pacific nations
Pacific nations
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Pacific nations. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
last updated:
24 August, 2024
Chinese Premier Li Qiang with Mark Brown, prime minister of the Cook Islands, in Harbin on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

China, Cook Islands pledge deeper cooperation as Li Qiang, Mark Brown meet

Multiple cooperation deals signed as Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown talk in Harbin, CCTV reports.

videocam
7
New Zealand

Cook Islands says comprehensive strategic partnership deal signed with China

Tourism

Beaches, caves, the Blue Lagoon: kayaking in Fiji’s Yasawa islands

videocam
Fiji

US man sentenced to life for murdering wife at Fiji resort during honeymoon

A judge said Bradley Robert Dawson showed ‘appalling’ disregard for Christe Chen’s life as he fled the scene after attacking her.

The Yasawa archipelago in Fiji where the murder took place. Photo: Shutterstock
China-New Zealand relations

Chinese Premier Li Qiang set to meet Cook Islands leader Mark Brown in Harbin

Cook Islands’ expected partnership deal with China has triggered tensions between the South Pacific nation and New Zealand.

Samoa

Miss Pacific Islands hit by fraud row after Samoa beauty queen wins title

Pageant judges stopped from leaving the host nation, Solomon Islands, as police investigate fraudulent activities at the event.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Taiwan

Why the ‘Out of Taiwan’ language theory is a cross-strait battleground

Mainland Chinese academics are countering the hypothesis that the island was the ancestral homeland of the Austronesian peoples.

videocam
4
The Austronesians are a group of ethnic communities spread across a vast region of the world – including Taiwan. Photo: Shutterstock
New Zealand

China, the Cook Islands – and New Zealand’s struggle for Pacific influence

By signing a deal with Beijing, the Cook Islands is asserting its independence – in a stark challenge to New Zealand’s Pacific strategy.

4
Donald Trump

Can China fill a US-sized void in the Pacific after Trump’s foreign aid freeze?

China could boost involvement through economic and climate adaptation projects to help Pacific nations meet development needs, analysts say.

35
New Zealand

Cook Islands’ new passport move, China deal leave New Zealand ‘blindsided’

Foreign Minister Winston Peters expresses concern over Pacific nation’s independent plans, including a proposed pact with Beijing.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

Don’t push Pacific Islands to choose between China and the West, UK admiral says

A Royal Navy admiral warns that Beijing’s global maritime dominance means China holds vast influence over the countries.

videocam
7
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a deal in 2022 which raised concerns with Australia and the US. Now a UK admiral has warned over China’s influence with Pacific Island nations. Photo: Xinhua
China-Australia relations

China sends help to quake-hit Vanuatu as it expands Pacific island ties

Beijing’s growing presence in the region is raising strategic concerns for Australia and the United States.

videocam
7
United States

World welcomes 2025 with light shows, hugs and ice plunges

Revellers worldwide celebrate with hopes for a brighter future, as nations usher in the New Year with fireworks and festivities.

videocam
Australia

Is Australia taking myopic approach in wooing Pacific nations to counter China?

Australia has signed deals with the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Papua New Guinea in moves seen as securing its clout as the Pacific leader.

14
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele of the Solomon Islands in Beijing on July 12. Photo: Xinhua
Earthquakes

Opinion | Why Vanuatu should expect more aftershocks – and maybe another earthquake

A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Efate, the main island of Vanuatu, earlier this week.

videocam
Members of Australia’s federal police and other rescue workers stand by a collapsed building in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Photo: Australian Federal Police via AP
Australia

Australia strikes US$118 million policing deal with China-friendly Solomons

Australian PM Albanese called the pact a ‘new foundation’ for Canberra’s security ties with Honiara as Beijing’s clout in the Pacific grows.

videocam
Earthquakes

Vanuatu reeling after magnitude 7.4 earthquake

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Vanuatu

Death toll from Vanuatu earthquake rises to 14, including 2 Chinese

An embassy official said the two Chinese victims were from Fujian province. More than 200 people were injured in the quake.

Rescuers inspect a collapsed building in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila after a powerful earthquake hit the Pacific nation. Photo: Michael Thompson via AFP
Vanuatu

Buildings ‘pancaked’ in Vanuatu as 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocks Pacific nation

Footage posted on social media showed buckled windows and collapsed concrete pillars on a building hosting foreign missions in the capital.

Tourism

7 foreigners hospitalised after drinking cocktails at 5-star Fiji resort

Guests at the luxury Warwick Fiji resort suffered ‘nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms’, Fiji’s health ministry said.

videocam
Australia

Australia seals Papua New Guinea security deal with eye on China

The agreement comes just days after Canberra signed a similar treaty with the small Pacific nation of Nauru.

videocam
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) shakes hands with Papua New Guinea’s leader James Marape during a press conference in Sydney on Thursday. Photo: AFP
Papua New Guinea

Rebel region vows to become Pacific’s newest nation by 2027

Bougainville, home to about 300,000 people, voted to secede from Papua New Guinea five years ago after a bloody decade-long war.

A bustling waterway in Bougainville’s capital Buka pictured in 2019. Photo: AFP
Australia

Australia signs security treaty with China-friendly Nauru

The treaty limits Nauru’s deal-making abilities. Last year, Beijing persuaded the Pacific microstate to sever diplomatic links with Taiwan.

5
Tonga

Tonga’s prime minister abruptly quits amid Pacific power struggle

It was not immediately clear who was in line to replace Siaosi Sovaleni, who has butted heads with Tonga’s influential king.

New Zealand

China’s growing presence ‘worries me and it should’: New Zealand’s defence chief

New Zealand’s concerns come as the government plans to increase defence spending, eyeing Nato’s guidance.

Type 055, or Renhai-class, large destroyers of the People’s Liberation Army Navy. New Zealand’s defence chief described the vessels as China’s most capable warships. Photo: CCTV
US-China relations

Taiwan’s Lai arrives in Hawaii for 2-day US stop on way to South Pacific

The stop, and another planned in Guam, have drawn fierce criticism from Beijing.

videocam
23
Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te (centre) greets Bishop Museum director Dee Jay Mailer in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Saturday. Photo: AFP
New Zealand

Tens of thousands of Maori, supporters march on New Zealand’s parliament

Protesters oppose a bill drafted by a minor coalition party that aims to redefine a founding treaty of the country dating back to 1840.

6
Palau

Palau seeks US missile system citing ‘direct threat’ from China ICBM test

President Whipps said he and incoming US leader Trump are ‘very much in agreement’ regarding the Pacific island nation’s security.

videocam
9
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
loading