PINA

The South Pacific could provide a “new focus” for China's Belt and Road Initiative after this week's visit by the Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, according to diplomatic observers. Sogavare met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, and the two leaders pledged to establish a “comprehensive strategic partnership” and form “greater synergy” between the transcontinental infrastructure project and the...

Scientists from Harvard University have collected fragments believed to belong to a huge interstellar meteor, saying it could have come from an alien spacecraft. Avi Loeb led an expedition to find the remains of a 500-kilogramme interstellar fireball that crashed in the ocean near Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea, in 2014. The team set out on a research boat called...

By David Capie A new foreign policy assessment sees the Pacific as no longer “strategically benign” – but the concern extends well beyond the region. Before jetting off on a whirlwind trip to Brussels, Stockholm, and the NATO Summit in Vilnius last Friday, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins gave a speech setting out his vision of the country’s foreign...

Papua New Guinea wants to create the equivalent of Britain’s Gurkha regiment as it struggles to strengthen its armed forces at a time of increasing tension in the region between China and the United States. British defence officials are in discussions with PNG about closer co-operation, including joint participation in UN peacekeeping missions and steps to enable its citizens to...

Chinese diplomats in the Pacific are critical of a decision by the Japanese government to dispose of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant accident by discharging it into the sea. A media statement issued from the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, urged that “Japan’s nuclear-contaminated water should be handled in a responsible way.” The Chinese...

The PACER Plus Implementation Unit (PPIU) has recently concluded a comprehensive study to identify alternative visa pathways that can facilitate the movement of semi-skilled and skilled Pacific workers to Australia and New Zealand. The PACER Plus Agreement recognises the importance of the movement of people to regional economic integration and sustainable development in the Pacific. The Movement of Natural Persons...

Solomon Islands prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare kicked off his trip to China this week with a clear goal — to deepen bilateral ties with Beijing, causing alarm among some Western nations. Among the highlights of the trip: Solomon Islands inaugurated its embassy in Beijing and the two countries signed a total of nine documents, including a police cooperation deal that...

Fiji's Minister for Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua claims some people, including politicians who have failed to earn power legitimately at the polls, have continually attempted to destabilise the security of the nation. During his address on the budget debate, Tikoduadua claims these individuals continually incite and propagate the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to take power, essentially to remove the...

It's been more than 30 years since the Bougainville crisis ended, but for many families on the island, the conflict's impacts show no sign of disappearing. Up to 20,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict from 1988 to 1998, and many of them remain unaccounted for. Tens of thousands more were displaced. A new partnership between the Bougainville...

A few days before he left office in May, former Micronesian president David Panuelo unleashed his displeasure with China, divulging a list of the communist nation’s political transgressions including political warfare and bribery. However, Panuelo’s attempt to sever ties with Beijing was defeated by the FSM Congress’ rejection of his proposal to switch ties to Taiwan. Panuelo’s successor, Wesley Simina, rescued...