Author: TMC Palau

Tourism the target of China’s ongoing tensions with PalauPublished 7 September 2026, 7:45 amPalau’s president has accused China of ‘weaponising tourism’, after geopolitical tensions between the countries reignited. The Chinese government warned its residents not to travel to the Pacific Island, a tactic historically believed to punish Palau for its recognition of Taiwan. Now, Australia is trying to support tourism in the region, including doubling peak-season flights to help Palau attract more visitors and boost resilience. SBS Political correspondent Rayane Tamer reports from Palau’s Rock Islands Southern Lagoon. Source link

At a key leaders’ summit in Palau, Pacific island nations burdened by worsening climate change impacts and costly fossil fuel imports called for November’s COP31 climate summit to deliver finance to help the region transition to renewable energy and build more resilient communities.Heads of government from the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) – which includes COP31 co-president Australia – met in Palau’s capital Koror for a week-long summit, where they demanded access to climate finance, ocean action and a regional boost for renewables at COP31.Palau’s president Surangel Whipps Jr. said during a plenary session that the Pacific must focus on…

  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao NingA Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday criticized the Taiwan regional authorities over reported increases in aid and cash grants to Palau, condemning the Lai Ching-te authorities for using “dollar diplomacy” to pursue “Taiwan independence” and serve the interests of a small number of political beneficiaries.The so-called “relations” maintained by a handful of countries, including Palau, with the Taiwan region are not aimed at serving the fundamental interests of their countries and peoples, but rather at allowing a small number of vested-interest actors to line their own pockets, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning…

Taiwan Diplomacy Power Rankings: June-August, 2026 – Domino Theory We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.AcceptDeny Source link

Luca Tu’avao Walton’s exhibition at Fibre Gallery draws on the nostalgia of island life.”I think there’s something really special about having a first show as a Pasifika artist and being able to decide what that world looks like for yourself,” he said.In the heart of Ōtautahi Christchurch, the Fibre Gallery is a hub committed to the visibility of Pacific artistry since it opened in 2022.On 21 August, Walton – otherwise known as @lucidluca – transported crowds back to the islands with the opening of his first exhibition at Fibre Gallery, Between Tree and Tide.The exhibition was not built around a…

Pacific leaders are descending on the stunning Micronesian nation of Palau for the region’s most important political gathering.This year’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting could be particularly politically charged and has already got off to a slightly tumultuous start.Palau is famous for its stunning karst landscape — with hundreds of rainforest-covered limestone islands — and for its powerful international advocacy on climate change.It is also one of Taiwan’s three remaining Pacific allies and a key link in the US military’s second island chain, which means that debates over Taipei’s role in the Pacific and China’s growing military might will…

A Cook Islander has taken home the Miss Oceania title for the second time, with Tiare Henry-Anguna crowned the Pacific regions continental queen at the Miss World finals in Vietnam.Henry-Anguna was among 111 contestants who spent a month competing in the 73rd edition of the international pageant, with the finals held on September 5th.The Dominican Republic’s Joheirry Mola was crowned Miss World, with the six continental queens announced alongside her.Henry-Anguna says winning the Oceania title is an achievement not just for the Cook Islands, but for the entire Pacific Islands region.”I feel so extremely blessed and grateful, coming from a…

The 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) summit, held this year in Palau, concluded on September 4. The event was marked by intense diplomatic pressure from the United States and its allies, Australia and New Zealand, which pressured the small island nations to issue a joint statement condemning a Chinese missile test conducted in the Pacific in July.55th Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting [Photo: Facebook/Pacific Islands Forum]When the 18-member PIF summit opened on August 30 the prime ministers of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu and Kiribati had all withdrawn, citing domestic politics, poor health and travel issues. Behind the withdrawals, however,…

The governments of Solomon Islands and America have signed an agreement to renew the US Peace Corps programme in the Solomons.A release from the Solomons government says Foreign Minister Rick Houenipwela signed the agreement in Honiara with the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.Ethnic tensions in the Solomons around the year 2000 led to the suspension of the Peace Corps programme that had seen over 700 Americans serve in the country over nearly three decades.But now the Peace Corps Volunteers programme is set to resume in full.Houenipwela said the volunteers would contribute to the Solomons’ development priorities by…

KOROR, Palau (AP) — China warned of “consequences” for Taiwan after officials from Beijing and Taipei attended a ceremonial event at a Pacific leaders summit, where major powers already had been urged to restrain from turning a meeting of mostly small island countries into a geopolitical sideshow.The 18 member states and territories of the Pacific Islands Forum, which opened its annual summit in Palau’s largest city Koror on Monday, do not include China, the United States or Taiwan. However, battles for influence over the lucrative oceans and strategically important locations of the forum’s members this week threatened, as they have…