PINA

By Julia Hollingsworth, CNN When China announced it had inked a security pact with a tiny Pacific island nation this week, there was little fanfare — at least from Beijing. As China put it, it was a mutually beneficial agreement aimed at creating peace and stability in the Solomon Islands, a country with a population less than half the size...

By Tess Cain Although Pacific Island countries do not experience high levels of criminality, shifts in transnational dynamics are changing the region’s organised crime landscape. More needs to be done to address these emerging issues multilaterally. The Boe Declaration, signed by the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in 2018, is the most recent statement of security priorities in Oceania. It...

Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has commended the splendid performance by the Rooster Chicken Fijana Drua following their win against the Waratahs. Bainimarama thanked the Fijiana Drua for the perfect end to their perfect season. He says all Fijians know this was an exceptional win adding that the level of rugby played by the Fijiana Drua was at another level. “I have...

The Fijian Drua side is happy to be back home, after being away from family for six months. Captain Meli Derenalagi says apart from the big clash they have in Suva this week against the Highlanders, it will be good for the players to spend some time with their loved ones. However Derenalagi stresses, they will need to remain focused while...

The President of the Pacific Games Council (PGC) Vidhya Lakhan and chief executive Andrew Minogue have conducted a final inspection of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and have approved their preparations for holding the 2022 Pacific Mini Games. Both attended meetings including one with the Board of the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 Games Organising Committee (NMPMG 2022)...

Could the decision to award the 2026 Commonwealth Games to the Australian state of Victoria have opened up a future pathway for the Pacific to host the multi-sports event? If a group of Victorian cities can come together to stage the games, then why not a group of Pacific island countries? The Pacific has flirted with the idea in the past,...

The Fijiana Drua have claimed the Super W title in a thrilling 32-26 victory over the NSW Waratahs at AAMI Park. The game went down to the wire as the Waratahs staged a comeback, with NZ import Natalie Delamare crossing for a hat-trick. However, the Drua refused to give up and backed by a strong Fijian crowd, hit the front with...

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton has suggested the Solomon Islands government signed a security pact with China after being bribed. As the fallout from the national security scare continued to ricochet through the election campaign, Dutton also indicated that Australia’s much-criticised low-level diplomatic response to try to stop the pact being signed was based on advice by the national security...

Former Solomon Islands prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says the country needs an economic solution to its instability problems, not a security solution. Lilo said he could not understand how current Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare could justify signing a security cooperation agreement with China to quell public discontent in his government's handling of national affairs. Earlier this week Honiara and Beijing...

Japan will send a vice foreign minister to the Solomon Islands possibly later this month due to concerns that a security pact between the southwest Pacific nation and China will increase Beijing's military influence in the region, government sources said Thursday. The visit by Shingo Miyake, a parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, comes as China and the Solomon Islands...