Tag: South Pacific
Related Posts
Tonga’s Debt to China Hinders Rebuild Four Years on From Eruption
By Ben Strang More than four years on from one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in history, Tonga is struggling to improve its infrastructure as it pays off a massive Chinese loan. When Hunga ...
Related Posts
New Zealand, Cook Islands Agree Defense Pact, Ending China Tension
New Zealand and the Cook Islands signed a new defense and security declaration on Thursday, ending a breakdown between the Pacific nations sparked by a partnership the Cooks signed with China. New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters signed the pact in ...
U.S. Bars Palau Senate President, Former Marshall Islands Mayor Over China-Linked Corruption
By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom The United States on Tuesday barred Palau Senate President Hokkons Baules and his family from entering the U.S., accusing him of corruption linked to China, as Washington pushes back on Beijing's effort to boost its influence in the ...
Cook Islands Involved in Trade of Sanctioned Oil to China?
Several tankers suspected of transporting Iranian and Russian oil to China were registered to the Cook Islands, according to an ongoing investigation by AFP. The news agency analyzed sanctions data from the U.S. and UK, and found that at least 34 ships tagged as transporting sanctioned oil in ...
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 ...
A drone view shows a ship and electric and hybrid vehicles manufactured by Chinese automaker BYD at the port of Zarate, Argentina, on January 20, 2026. (Photo by Matias Baglietto/NurPhoto) (Photo by Matías Baglietto / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP)
To international visitors, Bonn—tucked along the Rhine River valley in western Germany—can feel like a time capsule. “Many things never change,” my local hosts told me, gesturing proudly toward the Bonn Minster, the Romanesque church that has anchored the city center since the Middle Ages. After more than two dozen visits ...
Tonga’s Debt to China Hinders Rebuild Four Years on From Eruption
By Ben Strang More than four years on from one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in history, Tonga is struggling to improve its infrastructure as it pays off a massive Chinese loan. When Hunga ...
New Zealand, Cook Islands Agree Defense Pact, Ending China Tension
New Zealand and the Cook Islands signed a new defense and security declaration on Thursday, ending a breakdown between the Pacific nations sparked by a partnership the Cooks signed with China. New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters signed the pact in ...
U.S. Bars Palau Senate President, Former Marshall Islands Mayor Over China-Linked Corruption
By Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom The United States on Tuesday barred Palau Senate President Hokkons Baules and his family from entering the U.S., accusing him of corruption linked to China, as Washington pushes back on Beijing's effort to boost its influence in the ...
Cook Islands Involved in Trade of Sanctioned Oil to China?
Several tankers suspected of transporting Iranian and Russian oil to China were registered to the Cook Islands, according to an ongoing investigation by AFP. The news agency analyzed sanctions data from the U.S. and UK, and found that at least 34 ships tagged as transporting sanctioned oil in ...
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 ...
Documents Show New Zealand Unease Over Chinese Warships in South Pacific
By Steven Trask China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, according to military documents obtained by AFP. Beijing has spent ...
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 ...
Chinese Ambassador Lashes Australian Plan to Buy Back Key Port
China's ambassador to Australia has condemned a push to block a Chinese company running a strategically important Australian shipping port, calling it "ethically questionable." The Landbridge group was granted a 99-year lease on the northern port of Darwin in 2015, a ...
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 ...
Cook Islands PM Beats No-Confidence Vote, Slams New Zealand
The Cook Islands prime minister survived a no-confidence vote on Wednesday, blaming "misinformation" from former colonial ruler New Zealand for destabilizing his Pacific country. The parliament voted 13-to-9 against the motion of no-confidence in Prime Minister Mark Brown's government, sparked by ...
Cook Islands Strikes Deal With China on Seabed Minerals
The Cook Islands said Saturday it struck a five-year agreement with China to cooperate in exploring and researching the Pacific nation's seabed mineral riches. A copy of the deal—signed during a state visit to China that has been criticized by former ...