In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Category: Pacific Islands
Wang Yi Holds Talks With Senior Political Leaders From Pacific Island Countries
A delegation of senior political leaders from Pacific Island countries wrapped up a week-long visit to Beijing on Friday with a meeting with Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party's most senior foreign policy official. Wang, who also serves as Foreign Minister, met ...
Key Summit Opens at ‘Pivotal’ Time for Pacific Islands
The top summit for Pacific island nations opened Monday in the Kingdom of Tonga, drawing global attention to the region's climate plight and its role in an unfolding great power rivalry. Melodic Tongan choir singers and dancing school children in traditional ...
UPDATE: Paraguay, Pacific Island Leaders to Attend Taiwan Inauguration
Eight heads of state will be among the 51 international delegations attending the inauguration of Taiwan's new leader next week, Taipei said Friday. Incoming president Lai Ching-te will be sworn in on Monday against a backdrop of increasing diplomatic and military ...
Solomons Islands PM Vows ‘Look North’ Pro-China Policy if Reelected
Solomon Islands' pro-China leader on Tuesday detailed a reelection campaign based on a "look North" strategy that would deepen security and economic ties with Beijing while retaining "traditional" allies like Australia. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare -- who has accused "agents of ...
Three Pacific Islands Leaders to Skip Annual Bloc Summit Amid China-U.S. Rivalry
The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands will not attend this week's annual Pacific Islands Forum, hampering the consensus-based group’s efforts to project unity as China and the United States jockey for influence in the region. The three ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
China Isn’t Spending Anywhere Near as Much on Aid to Pacific Island Countries as Many Think
New research reveals that Chinese aid spending in Pacific Island Countries (PIC) is now at the lowest level in 14 years, challenging the widely held perception that Beijing is showering the region with money in a bid to boost its influence. ...