Author: TMC Palau
The Pacific Islands Forum has found a way through its consensus decision-making style to register concern at China’s illegal missile test.In doing so, it might have shown a glimpse of how it could break future impasses which have blighted the organisation.The annual leaders summit wrapped up on Thursday in Palau, where Anthony Albanese and other Pacific representatives gathered for the leaders retreat.Key decisions at the 2026 event included splitting its external partners into a two-tiered system, and adding a new annual police ministers gathering to the regional calendar.The week in Palau has been flavoured by geopolitical competition between China and…
By: Laurel Marewibuel KOROR, Palau (Sept. 2, 2026) — “Start small, start ugly, start now.” That message summed up an entrepreneurship session Wednesday that brought Palau Community College and high school students together with entrepreneurs, impact investors and companies working on solar energy, circular production, health and other island solutions during the 55th Pacific Islands […]The post Palau Students Turn Island Challenges Into Business Ideas During Forum Week appeared first on Island Times News. Source link
From left, Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Baron Waqa, Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr., Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Rick Houenipwela and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon at the press conference Sept. 3. (Photo by Sophie Mak)SOPHIE MAKSeptember 4, 2026 09:28 JSTKOROR, Palau — Pacific islands leaders collectively expressed concern on Thursday over a Chinese missile test launch in July that had divided the region. Source link
By: L.N. Reklai KOROR, Palau (Sept. 3, 2026)— The Pacific is not the edge of Asia and the Pacific for the Asian Development Bank but “at the center” of how the institution sees the region’s future, ADB President Masato Kanda said as he outlined a more Pacific-led approach to development financing. Speaking on the sidelines […]The post ADB puts Pacific at center of new regional strategy, Kanda says appeared first on Island Times News. Source link
By: Summer Kennard KOROR, Palau (Sept. 2, 2026) As Pacific countries prepare for the possibility of climate-driven relocation, the region’s approach should not begin with moving people — but with finding ways for them to remain safely on their ancestral land. That was the message from International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Director for Asia-Pacific […]The post If Palauans Have to Move, What Happens to Home? appeared first on Island Times News. Source link
P acific Island leaders have expressed concern over China’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile test in the Pacific, calling for greater transparency and advance notification of future missile launches, despite a formal dissent from Nauru. The issue emerged as a major point of discussion at the annual Pacific Islands Forum, where leaders from the region debated security concerns while also facing pressure from Beijing over Taiwan’s participation in the summit. Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr., who hosted the meeting, said China’s July missile test had passed over several Pacific island nations without sufficient warning. The launch was China’s first known ICBM…
By: L.N. Reklai KOROR, Palau (September 4, 2026) Authorities are investigating reports involving two women visitors who allegedly encountered the same man while hiking at Long Island Park in Ngermalk, with the suspect arrested and later released pending further investigation. New popular trail at Long Island, a scenic walk that wraps around Ngermalk Island. A […]The post Authorities Investigate Reports of Alleged Harassment of Women at Long Island Park appeared first on Island Times News. Source link
Last weekend, an article in The Economist declared “Australia builds a Pacific alliance system to keep China out”. The strapline read “Chinese influence among Pacific island states is in retreat”. In conversations with journalists in the lead-up to this week’s Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau, I would often be asked, “Is Australia winning?”My answer paraphrased what Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai probably never said to Henry Kissinger about what he made of the French Revolution: “Too soon to tell.”After the shock of 2022, when Penny Wong described the freshly inked but never publicly released China–Solomon Islands security pact as…
By: L.N. Reklai KOROR, Palau (September 4, 2026) — Pacific leaders in their 55th PIFLM’s communique are calling for stronger regional solidarity and practical collective action as they confront climate change, economic vulnerability, security challenges and growing pressure on the region’s resources, with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius emerging as a central priority […]The post Pacific Leaders Put Unity, Climate Action and 1.5C at Heart of Palau Forum appeared first on Island Times News. Source link
KOROR, Palau (2 September 2026) – Sustained leadership, strengthened regional architecture, people-centred planning, and coordinated partnerships would help the region translate security declarations and commitments into action, panellists at a side event at the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting have said. ‘Towards a region of peace and security: From political vision to action’, hosted […]The post Political will and better coordination needed to translate security commitments into action appeared first on Island Times News. Source link