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China to Host Pacific Island Leaders, Seeking Closer Ties

China's top diplomat will host leaders from Pacific Island nations next week for a summit, Beijing announced on Wednesday, as it seeks closer ties with the strategic region. Leaders and diplomats from 11 Pacific Island nations, including Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Papua ...

Kiribati Eyes Deep-Sea Mining Deal With China

Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of the Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative ...

New Zealand Beefs with Kiribati as China Looks On

New Zealand will review all its development aid to the Pacific island of Kiribati, following the cancellation of a meeting between its Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Kiribati’s President Taneti Maamau. Peters said the cancellation - about a week before the scheduled meeting - reflects a larger lack ...

Kiribati’s Pro-China President Eyes Third Term

Kiribati's pro-China acting president Taneti Maamau sought a third term in power Friday, as voters chose between three candidates to lead the low-lying Pacific island. Maamau, 64, retained his seat by a landslide in August parliamentary elections that were dominated by ...

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 ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Fraying Story of the “West” and What’s Next

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech in Davos marked a new era in how the West talks about itself. One could say he was the first Global North leader to frame the rules-based international order (RIP) in Global South terms: 
“We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew ...

China Ally Kiribati Criticizes Beijing Missile Launch

Kiribati's pro-China president has said his nation "does not welcome" Beijing's recent test firing of a ballistic missile in the Pacific, rare criticism from a staunch regional ally. In a social media post, Taneti Maamau's office stated that the South Pacific ...

Kiribati Poll Results Show Pro-China Leader Retains Parliamentary Seat

Kiribati's pro-China president retained his parliamentary seat in a landslide, according to the first results on Thursday of an election that hinged on worries about the cost of living, rising sea levels, and closer ties with Beijing. Results posted by the ...

Kiribati Votes in Test for Pro-China Government

Polls opened in the Pacific nation of Kiribati on Wednesday after a campaign dominated by the increasing cost of living, rising sea levels, and questions about the benefit of deeper ties with China. Across more than a dozen islands and atolls ...

Kiribati’s Pro-China Government Faces Election Test

Pacific nation Kiribati will begin voting in a general election this week, a poll that will test the strengthening ties between China and the government of the climate-threatened archipelago. The vote on Wednesday in tiny Kiribati—a country of scattered atolls and ...