PINA

The United States struck security agreements last week with Pacific Island nations seen as a key part of U.S plans to counter China’s territorial expansion. But after three years of negotiations, one of those Pacific nations — the Marshall Islands — still has not reached a deal with Washington. A member of the U.S negotiating team blames the State Department’s legal...

Senior U.S officials said on Friday that a White House summit with a dozen Pacific Islands leaders last week was successful, and that Washington was listening to the region, not asking countries to choose between the U.S and China. U.S President Joe Biden met the Pacific Island leaders for a second summit in just over a year last Monday, pledging...

Invasive species are a threat to Pacific communities, they are destructive to native biodiversity and the natural environment and have major socio-economic impacts on communities and national development. Considered “the most significant driver of population declines and species extinctions in island ecosystems worldwide”, invasive species cause extensive economic loss and compromise human health. To curb the devastating impact of invasive...

Defending champions South Africa scored seven tries and moved a step closer to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a bruising 49-18 victory over impressive Tonga in their Pool B clash on Sunday. Many of the 60,387 in the crowd were rooting for the Pacific Islanders, but while Tonga put on a brave showing, South Africa fed off their errors...

Anxious and error-prone Fiji fought back to beat fading Georgia 17-12 on Saturday and remain on course for the World Cup quarter-finals, pushing Australia to the brink of elimination. Fiji scored two second-half tries as they rebounded from a nine-point half-time deficit to tighten their grip on second place in Group C, but their failure to collect a bonus point...

The Marshall Islands is expected to soon enter into a renewed economic and security cooperation agreement with the U.S, a boon for American efforts to counter growing Chinese influence in the Pacific. The U.S provides economic and security assistance to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau under a series of agreements called the Compacts of Free Association. The U.S and...

By Dame Meg Taylor, Non-Resident Distinguished fellow for the Blue Pacific, Asia Society Policy Institute Today’s geopolitical circumstance, defined by the rivalry between the United States and China, has redefined the dynamics of regional and global orders. This reality is palpable in the Pacific region, where the strategic interests of major powers and their allies intersect and undermine our own aspirations...

Geopolitical expert Geoffrey Miller has warned Cook Islands will need to be wary of the potential to be ‘star-struck’ by the attention being bestowed upon it by the world’s superpowers. Miller made the comment as Prime Minister Mark Brown met with United States President Joe Biden in Washington this week and confirmed closer ties between the nations through formal diplomatic...

In a historic milestone for Melanesian communities in Fiji, the “First-ever consultation on the formalisation of Melanesian settlements in Fiji” took place Thursday, sparking deep emotions and gratitude. Descendants of Melanesians brought to Fiji in the 1800s via the blackbirding system expressed their long-felt sense of neglect despite their vital contributions to Fiji's development. An emotional Paterisio Nunu couldn’t hold back...

A rollcall of Pacific Island nations have very different views on the release of treated radioactive wastewater. By Derek Grossman Japan’s decision last month to begin discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean from its destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is fairly unpopular in Oceania, potentially damaging Tokyo’s reputation in this increasingly strategic region. Nuclear fallout is a particularly sensitive...