The recent climate migration deal between Australia and Tuvalu has been touted as providing a “lifeline” to the people of the South Pacific nation, who face existential threats from rising sea levels and climate change. The Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union treaty, signed in November 2023, is the world’s first bilateral agreement on climate mobility. Under the […]

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When Fijians elect a new parliament on December 14, it’s likely their votes will be counted fairly – yet the country will remain a conditional and fragile democracy. This will be the third election since the “coup to end all coups” in 2006, which followed two earlier coups in 1987 and a civilian overthrow of […]

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With Samoa fully reopening its borders on August 1, another Pacific country moved tentatively forward after two years of border closures and little or no international tourism. But opening up is not as simple as flipping a switch, given the many challenges facing Pacific aviation. Rising fuel costs, mounting debt, management issues and a shortage […]

The post How can the ‘blue continent’ stay connected? appeared first on Asia Times.

At the East-West Center International Media Conference last week, speakers from the Pacific Islands who are involved in climate change issues took Western media to task for maintaining a “drowning islands” narrative. The narrative, they said, dominates stories on global warming in the region and diminishes efforts to fight and adapt to the environmental crisis. In a […]

The post Media’s drowning islands trope ‘saps Pacific will’ appeared first on Asia Times.

In a bid to counter China’s growing presence in the Pacific, the United States has announced plans to reopen its embassy in the Solomon Islands, which was closed in 1993.  Since then, US diplomats from Papua New Guinea have been accredited to the Solomons, where the US has a consular agency. US Secretary of State […]

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SYDNEY – As townspeople clear the debris from three days of rioting in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara, the two biggest powers in the Pacific – the United States and China — are trying not to get the blame. At first, the unrest that broke out on November 24 seemed to stem from a move […]

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President Joe Biden underscored US support for Pacific island nations battling Covid-19 and the climate crisis on Friday as Washington tries to counter China’s expanded influence in the region. In a video message at the opening of a forum of 18 island nations from tiny Nauru to Australia and New Zealand, Biden reminded leaders of […]

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Seventy-five years after the US military began using the Marshall Islands as a nuke testing ground, a new generation fired-up by climate activism is demanding justice.  When the Able atomic bomb was detonated at Bikini Atoll on July 1, 1946, Alson Kelen’s family were among those forced from their palm-fringed ancestral homes.  For decades, complaints […]

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Fiji health chiefs have admitted for the first time that Covid-19 transmission is widespread in the community after the Pacific nation recorded more than 300 new daily cases. But authorities continue to reject calls for a nationwide lockdown, saying the 930,000-strong population’s failure to obey health rules designed to contain the virus would render it […]

The post Fiji says Covid-19 now widespread as cases spike appeared first on Asia Times.

Fiji’s parliament has been forced to close as Covid-19 cases surge in the South Pacific country, overwhelming quarantine facilities and prompting calls for a nationwide lockdown. After a staffer was found to be a close contact of a positive case, speaker Epeli Nailatikau said the legislative buildings in the capital Suva were shut. “As a […]

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For most of the last year, the Pacific Islands have been remarkably isolated from the devastating effects of the Covid crisis. By walling themselves off early from the outside world, most Pacific nations remain Covid free. Historians will look back on this as a remarkable achievement by Pacific nations, and a great credit to the […]

The post Pacific Islands latest Covid domino to fall appeared first on Asia Times.

The Fijian capital Suva entered a 14-day lockdown Monday as the Pacific island nation battled to contain a Covid-19 spike following a “superspreader” funeral event. About 100,000 people in the city must stay in containment zones and non-essential businesses are shuttered after the first community coronavirus cases in 12 months were detected. A soldier contracted […]

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The chiefs of remote Pacific villages that worship Prince Philip offered a message of comfort to Queen Elizabeth II Monday, saying his soul would live on. But the worshippers of Yakel village on the Vanuatu island of Tanna said they did not yet know who would become their new spiritual leader. For decades, inhabitants of two […]

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Deep down, a mile below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have made an incredible discovery. It was not a new form of life — no, not that. In fact, this discovery was probably greater in terms of scientific knowledge. Let’s start with the fact, that we assumed one of the classic tenets of […]

The post A shocking discovery in the Pacific depths appeared first on Asia Times.

The Pacific Islands Forum leadership rift widened Sunday as the Marshall Islands voiced its disapproval with the central political body in a region where the United States and China are competing for influence. Palau has already announced it is pulling out of the organisation and will meet the Marshall Islands and other Micronesian members of […]

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Vanuatu has recorded its first Covid-19 case, health officials announced Wednesday, ending the Pacific island nation’s status as one of the few countries in the world to remain virus-free. The health department said a 23-year-old man who had recently returned from the United States was confirmed to have the virus on Tuesday after being tested […]

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The United States said Friday it will deploy Coast Guard patrol ships in the western Pacific to counter “destabilizing and malign” activities by China in disputed fishing grounds of the South China Sea.  Accusing China of “illegal” and “unregulated” fishing, as well as “harassment” of fishing boats from regional countries, White House National Security Advisor […]

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Taiwan and China traded accusations Monday over a physical clash between their diplomats at a reception in Fiji – with Beijing revealing that a cake helped fuel the dust-up. Taipei accused two Chinese officials of gatecrashing an event at the luxurious Grand Pacific Hotel in the Fijian capital Suva on October 8 and assaulting an […]

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