PINA

By Dionisia Tabureguci Marked increases in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in the Pacific region are forcing a rethink of ways to build better resilience into telecommunications infrastructure in the region, said Henry Puna, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva. Puna was keynote speaker at the 26th Annual General Meeting’s Business Forum and Expo...

China has shelved its plan to sign a regional agreement with Pacific island nations. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been travelling to Pacific nations and had planned to visit 10 countries in the two-week blitz. Wang says China will instead release a position paper following a meeting with Pacific foreign ministers in Fiji on Monday. “After meeting, China will release its own...

A meeting was convened Monday between Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Chinese’s State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi. In his remarks at the joint media conference that followed after the meeting, Prime Minister Bainimarama welcomed Minister Wang Yi to Fiji. “Much has changed since 2018 when Minister Wang Yi last visited us. A pandemic has completely upended...

Geopolitical point scoring means nothing to a nation whose communities are slipping beneath rising seas, whose jobs have been lost to a pandemic and whose families are impacted by the rapid rise in food prices. This was the point made by Voreqe Bainimarama in a joint statement Monday with Chinese State Councilor and Minister for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi. Bainimarama has...

Samoa’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa has criticised the manner in which regional issues had been dealt with recently where new power groupings only asked Pacific Islands like Samoa when issues heat up like the agreement between the China and the Solomon Island Government. Asked about what was signed with China’s Foreign Minister last weekend,...

Niue's Premier Dalton Tagelagi spoke with State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi as part of a meeting of Ministers of Foreign affairs from across the Pacific region. Premier of Niue, Tagelagi said in his presentation to Foreign Minister Wang Yi that the people of Niue have enjoyed a close friendship with the Peoples Republic of China since...

Samoa will move to Alert Level One as of midnight Tuesday 31 May following signs that the Covid-19 virus appears to have peaked in early May and there is now a downward trending of new infections. Announcing the changes, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa said the campaign drive through the Ministry of Health, in close collaboration with the Disaster Advisory...

By Aileen Torres-Bennett and Nick Perry  China fell short Monday on a bold plan to have 10 Pacific nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries as some in the region expressed deep concerns. But there have been plenty of smaller wins for China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi as he continues an island-hopping tour of the...

International sevens action will return to Hamilton this summer after a two-year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic. New Zealand Rugby announced the return of New Zealand's biggest sporting party, where the Black Ferns Sevens and All Blacks Sevens will defend their respective titles, at FMG Stadium Waikato on 21-22 January 2023. The resurrected Hamilton event, which returns to the World...

Former All Blacks and Wallabies stars Israel Folau, Charles Piutau and Malakai Fekitoa headline the newly-named Tonga squad to compete in July’s Pacific Nations Cup and World Cup qualifier. All three players were included in Toutai Kefu’s 31-man ‘Ikale Tahi squad to face Fiji, Samoa and Australia A in the Pacific Nations Cup, which precedes a World Cup playoff match...