Related Posts

Tonga Gets Full Diplomatic Treatment Amid Pacific Tensions

Tonga’s King Tupou VI wrapped up a 6-day visit to China that saw him meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and Zhao Leji, the head of the National People’s Congress’s Standing Committee. The visit saw the signing ...

China Warns Papua New Guinea Over Australian Defense Deal

China cautioned Papua New Guinea against "undermining" its interests and sovereignty in signing a mutual defense pact with Australia widely seen as a counter to Beijing's growing influence in the Pacific. Australia and Papua New Guinea this week agreed on the ...

Pacific Leaders Agree New Summit Rules After China, Taiwan Bans

By Ben Strang Pacific Island leaders agreed on Friday to a new framework that would allow nations to join a key regional forum as strategic partners, after accusations that China was influencing regional decision-making. The ...

China is the ‘Elephant in the Room’ at Fraught Pacific Islands Summit

By Ben Strang Pacific Islands leaders are meeting in the Solomons this week for an influential summit clouded by differences over China's mounting influence in the region that risks scuppering regional cooperation. Alongside its 18 ...

Solomon Islands Says China Not Influencing Diplomatic Decisions

By Ben Strang Solomon Islands defended its move to bar some partners from an influential summit of South Pacific leaders, brushing aside claims on Thursday of a looming split or that China is influencing its decisions.

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

2026: Africa-China Relations in a World Shaped by North-South Geopolitics

When talking about Africa–China relations, one is always moving along a sliding scale. There are myriad interactions with Chinese entities that concern only individual African countries, segueing into trends affecting the whole continent and sliding further into global dynamics shaping the developing world, of which Africa is the heart.

The Africa-China relationship is its own thing, but Africa’s fate can’t easily be separated from factors affecting the wider Global South, ...

New Zealand Foreign Minister Says ‘Outsiders’ Meddling in Regional Summit

By Ben Strang New Zealand's foreign minister said Thursday that foreign influence was threatening to split an upcoming annual summit of South Pacific leaders. Foreign Minister Winston Peters sounded the warning as the region's top ...

Solomon Islands Bars China and Taiwan From Top Pacific Summit

Pacific nation Solomon Islands has said it would exclude non-member nations from a key regional summit in September, a group that includes China, Taiwan, and the United States. Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said earlier this week he would defer a meeting ...

China Says No Ambition to Build South Pacific Military Base

China's embassy in Fiji has insisted Beijing is not seeking a military base in the South Pacific, saying aid pledged to developing island nations came with "no political strings attached". Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka warned this week against any Chinese ...

Solomon Islands Voices ‘Concern’ Over Pacific Police Deal

Solomon Islands on Friday aired reservations about a landmark Pacific policing deal brokered by Australia, saying it should not preclude them from working alongside newfound ally China. "There is one thing that is not so much nagging us, but it's of ...

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 ...

China Props up Solomon Islands’ Budget With $20 Million Injection

The Solomon Islands will prop up its government budget with a $20 million injection from China, the developing Pacific state said Tuesday, as Beijing looks to strengthen its strategic foothold in the region. Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele announced the funding after ...

Australia Pushes Solomons to Rely on Pacific Nations for Security

Australia urged the Solomon Islands to rely on fellow Pacific nations for security assistance Wednesday during a visit by China-friendly Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele. The Solomons leader was visiting Australia as part of a three-nation tour that will also take him ...
Page 1 of 4124