Fiji in crisis

The fact that Fiji’s Parliament has been without an opposition for weeks has largely escaped the attention of the international media, but the growing political crisis is stoking fears of another military coup.

Biden’s Pacific summit

The US – Pacific Island Country Summit on 28–29 September will underline the importance the USA attaches to strengthening its ties in the Pacific island region.

China looms large over the Pacific Islands Forum

The looming threat of Chinese power may serve to reunited a Pacific Islands Forum riven with disunity at the first face-to-face meeting for over two years.

China muscles into Pacific marine reserve

The Kiribati government is removing protection from a vast marine reserve to rake in fishing revenue from China.

Building resilience to economic coercion in the Pacific

Economic rather than military might pose the gravest threat to the Indo-Pacific island states as China’s President Xi Jinping is aggressively using China’s growing economic power to achieve secure his strategic aims.

Australia should support Taiwan’s bid to join the CPTPP

Supporting the inclusion of Taiwan in the CPTPP will strengthen Australia’s broader regional objectives as well as strengthening an important economic relationship.

Pacific Islands Forum: Finding meaning in a ‘typo’?

Recent turmoil in the Pacific Islands Forum has been complicated by the association’s nebulous treaty status.

The Pacific Islands Forum can survive this crisis too

The recent split among member states in the Pacific Island Forum is only the latest in a litany of crisis, and certainly does not herald the end of regional cooperation.

Helping the Pacific survive COVID-19

The small, developing nations of the Pacific are facing incredible health and economic challenges from the Covid-19 threat, and while Australia battles its own outbreak, it can also take effective measures to help its neighbours.

Bainimarama visit highlights Pacific “family ties”

Scott Morrison has emphasised Australia’s ‘family relationship’ with Pacific nations, and we’ll get a good idea of the state of relations when Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama visits Canberra this week.

Assessing China’s soft power in the Pacific

The fragility of Australian soft power in the Pacific has less to do with Chinese influence than a perception that Canberra has drifted away from the regional consensus on climate change, development priorities and economic relations.