PINA

Confidential documents obtained by PACNEWS have revealed that a week after back-tracking support for Japan on the release of treated nuclear wastewater in Fukushima, the Office of the Prime Minister in Papua New Guinea sought approval from the National Executive Council (NEC) to support Japan’s discharge plan. The confidential submission to NEC dated 22 June 2023 highlighted the on-going regional...

The Pacific Islands Forum chair Mark Brown says the planned release of treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean cannot be a breach of the Rarotonga Treaty as it's a controlled release and not a dump. The Treaty commits the Pacific to being nuclear free, and bans the dumping of nuclear waste in the region. “No, I don't think it would...

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has lavished praise on China during his visit to the country, declaring that Beijing has no “strategic interests” in the Pacific and suggesting the emerging great power has been unfairly tarred by the West. The two countries have officially elevated their relationship to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” during Sogavare's week-long trip to China, and...

Pacific delegates played a crucial role in discussions at the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) talks on greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies, aimed to make a significant impact on combating climate change and safeguarding the region's vulnerable ecosystems. Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu were among several voices who strongly called for the IMO member states to adopt...

The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands has called for more U.S compensation over the legacy of massive U.S nuclear testing to enable the renewal of a strategic agreement governing bilateral relations. Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of 67 nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll in 1954...

The danger of indiscriminately releasing nuclear fission products into the ocean is that the products can find their way into the food chain, a New Zealand scientist has said on the impending discharge of radioactively-contaminated cooling water from Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. "Once in the food chain the long-lived nuclear fission heavy nuclei like cesium-137,...

Forging diplomatic relations with China is one of the most significant decisions the Solomon Islands has made over the last 45 years since its independence, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare has said. Sogavare made these remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua, ahead of his official visit to China starting on Sunday, his second one since the...

The State Department says it plans a massive increase in diplomatic personnel and spending for facilities at new U.S embassies in the Pacific islands as the Biden administration forges ahead with efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the region. In a notice sent to Congress this week, the department said it envisions hiring up to 40 staffers over the...

The Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC)continues to affirm its commitment to advocate and inspire actions in solidarity for the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) to become a full member of Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). This week, the PCC hosted civil society partners alongside the ULMWP President Benny Wenda at a prayer vigil where the Morning Star flag was...

Adaptation and mitigation strategies alone will not be enough to recover from the effects of climate change. By George Carter, Athaulla A Rasheed Samoa assumed a leadership role in January this year as chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the negotiating bloc for small island developing states. Samoa is well placed to elevate the experience of Pacific Islands...