Author: TMC Palau

SOLOMON Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has arrived in Palau for the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, with a motion of no confidence awaiting him at home. The motion, filed by East Malaita MP and Minister for Home Affairs Manasseh Maelanga, was received by the Clerk of Parliament as Wale departed the Solomon Islands. The challenge comes just three months after Wale formed the GREAT Coalition Government and follows allegations that he has made unilateral decisions without adequate consultation and failed to take key matters through Cabinet. Speaking to Tavuli News shortly after arriving in Palau, Wale gave little…

Delivered by the Chair of the Smaller Island States Leaders Meeting, President of Palau, H.E Surangel Whipps, JrNgarachamayong Cultural Center, Koror, Palau31 August 2026 Colleague Leaders,Alii, my colleague Leaders.Welcome to Belau. It is a deep honour for the people and Government of Belau to be able to host this engagement, as well as the broader 55th Pacific Islands Forum this week. Mesulang for this opportunity to do so. In turning to the meeting at hand, may I also offer my appreciation to President Maamau and the Government of Kiribati for their stewardship of the Smaller Island States over the past year and for…

Surangel Whipps Jr., who is also the president of Palau, said he was hopeful the issue would be mentioned in a joint statement by the 18-nation bloc when the summit ends later on Thursday.”That’s definitely something that we’ll be discussing today, and a unified Pacific voice is critical in getting Beijing to respect sovereignty, to respect transparency, and to be a responsible partner,” he told a news conference.”We don’t want our backyard, our homes, to be threatened and really disrespected.”The July ballistic missile test by Beijing — its first known launch in the Pacific since September 2024 — came hours…

WELLINGTON – China on Sept 1 objected to Taiwan’s presence at the Pacific Islands Forum, saying the democratically ruled island was not qualified to attend the summit, but Australia and New Zealand said the Pacific bloc would decide the guest list.China views Taiwan as its own territory, and China-Taiwan tensions have featured prominently at the meeting, which was intended to demonstrate regional unity.Palau, which is hosting the 2026 meeting, is among just a handful of Pacific nations that have maintained diplomatic ties with Taiwan.At his speech during the forum’s opening ceremony on Aug 31, Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr said:…

[Check against delivery] Delivered by the Incoming Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, President of Palau, H.E Surangel Whipps, JrPalau National Gym,  Koror, Palau31 August 2026  The Honorable Rick Houenipwela, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade and representative of the Outgoing Forum Chair, Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Heads of Government,Traditional leaders of Palau – Rubekul me a Mechesil Belau Members of the Olbiil Era Kelulau and Honorable MinistersSecretary General Baron Waqa, Heads of Delegation and representatives of our Associate Members,Heads of CROP agencies, representatives of the private sector, civil society, faith communities, and our Pacific youth,Members of the media, our people of Palau,…

The 2026 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting will be “less productive” than in previous years because one third of the regional grouping’s leaders are not present for the summit in Palau, where China-Taiwan tensions are front and center, experts told Radio Free Asia.Leaders from five of the 18 member nations — Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Kiribati, and New Caledonia — sent deputy ministers or other senior officials in their stead. A sixth leader, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale, had arrived in Palau, but returned to Honiara to address a no-confidence filing against his leadership.“The meeting is already less productive because…

The Pacific Islands Forum is facing a test of unity in Palau with five leaders absent and tensions between Taiwan and China playing out openly at the regional summit.Taiwan’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Lin Chia-lung, has used a rare media appearance at the Forum to defend Taipei’s place in the Pacific and warn island countries against giving in to pressure from Beijing.China has hit back, saying Taiwan has no place at a Forum it is not formally part of and warning there will be “consequences” over its presence.The standoff comes as Pacific leaders grapple with how to protect the region’s voice…

The Palau de la Música Catalana will host on September 29, 2026, the visit of Adelmo Zucchero Fornaciari, one of the most representative artists with the greatest international projection in Italian rock blues. As part of his new tour Under the Moonlight, the musician arrives in Barcelona to offer a concert commemorating the 25th anniversary of his hit Baila, one of the most popular and recognized songs in his repertoire.Beyond this celebration, the evening will serve to review a career spanning several decades marked by the fusion of blues, soul, and rock, as well as his collaborations with music legends…

Across the Canadian Arctic, hundreds of thousands of lakes have never been touched by a human being. They have no names, no visitors, and no record beyond satellite imagery. They are the extreme end of a spectrum that has no agreed measure: there is no official ranking of the world’s most isolated lakes, and no accepted definition of what makes one remote. Distance is part of it, but so is terrain, and so is climate. A lake ringed by mountains and glaciers or sealed under Antarctic ice can sit far beyond reach even when its coordinates are well known. And…

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) will continue operating the Australian government-backed service between Brisbane International and Koror, dubbed the “Palau Paradise Express”, through to November 30, 2027, while doubling frequencies during the upcoming peak season. The Australian government announced the extension on September 2, 2026, with Qantas saying it had signed a new agreement with the federal government. Qantas International & Freight CEO Cam Wallace said that “the extra service is a direct response to growing demand for these incredible islands.” The extension adds 12 months to Qantas’ existing Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) contract, which runs from…