Author: TMC Palau

SYDNEY/WASHINGTON – Australia and the United States on Wednesday announced a combined $580 million in funding for Pacific island nations as they battle China for influence in the region.The U.S. contribution, while smaller at $150 million, is one of the most public signals from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump that it is still engaged in the Pacific after it dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development last year.The funding, announced by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau at this year’s meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, follows an increase in China’s influence in recent years via…

The Tokelau community is mourning a New Zealand career diplomat who served multiple times as the administrator to Tokelau, helped build its public service and fought to ensure their right to self-determination was exercised.Neil Walter was a widely respected diplomat in the Asia Pacific region who served as Official Secretary, Office of Tokelau Affairs from 1988 to 1990, and resumed as Tokelau administrator role between 2003 and 2006.Walter also served as New Zealand’s Ambassador to Indonesia and then Japan in the 1990s, following earlier stints in Thailand, New York and Sāmoa.He is frequently described by Tokelauans and Foreign Affairs colleagues…

KOROR, Palau — 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 before,…

September 1, 2026 — 10:00pmSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.AAAKoror City, Palau: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will pledge $600 million for a new Pacific-wide initiative to combat the surge of illicit drug smuggling in the region, especially cocaine bound for Australia.The major funding commitment came as Albanese pushed back against China’s Pacific envoy for threatening retaliation and lodging complaints over Taiwan’s presence at the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, declaring it was up to Pacific nations to determine their own affairs.US Coast Guard members board a self-propelled semi-submersible in…

Of all the testimonies about the impact of global warming heard at the Pacific Islands Forum summit, Maina Talia’s may be the most heart-wrenching.The Tuvalu climate change minister has been a relentless ambassador for lifting climate ambition, given the imminent threat to his homeland. “I couldn’t sleep last night thinking, ‘how are we going to prepare ourselves’,” he said in Palau. A deeply worried Maina Talia speaks at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS) “Because the scenarios that may happen in the next 100 years or so, could happen within next 10 years or so. “It’s real…

The United States will spend upwards of US$150 million on projects and initiatives in the Pacific.The US State Department said the Trump Administration is reorienting Pacific relationships towards “championing US enterprise and investments”, mirroring its approach to much of the developing world.The State Department’s second top diplomat, Christopher Landau, has been on the Pacific meeting circuit regularly since February, when leaders were invited to Honolulu to hobnob with US investors and military officers.Its biggest spend is a fuel security deal that, pending US Congress, would dole out US$60m to fix up energy infrastructure and build storage capacity.The big winners of…

A new United Nations report says the world is likely to cross the 1.5°C global warming threshold within the next few years.But in Palau, communities are already preparing for what comes next.The UN Environment Programme’s latest report says even the most optimistic scenario would see global temperatures peak at 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels.Other scenarios point to warming of more than 2°C. The UN warns every fraction of a degree above 1.5°C increases the risks of extreme weather, damage to ecosystems and threats to low-lying island communities.Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director, says the world cannot treat crossing 1.5°C as a reason…

The mining and extractive industries generate large economic rents which, if managed and invested prudently, can deliver long-term socio-economic prosperity for mining communities and the country beyond the life of resource projects. Many communities associated with minerals projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG) understand the importance of education in securing long-term economic prosperity and have invested part of the proceeds from resource extraction in it. In this article, we analyse education investments by Special Mining Lease (SML) landowners of Porgera (in Enga province) and Lihir (in New Ireland province), associated with the Porgera and Lihir goldmines. Both areas have roughly…

RNZ’s Teuila Fuatai in Koror, PalauThe Solomon Islands is asking its fellow Pacific Island Forum (PIF) members to reconsider the presence of dialogue partners at the regional body’s annual leaders meeting, RNZ Pacific understands.The issue was raised at a closed meeting of the PIF on Wednesday morning in Palau, with the Solomon Islands asking members to consider whether the leaders meeting should be separate from the dialogue partners’ process, RNZ Pacific understands.The presence of partners at the annual leaders’ meeting has been a contentious issue over the past few years.Each year, a partners dialogue meeting is held as part of…

Cook Islands Deputy High Commissioner to Fiji Antonina Browne and Pacific Regional Foreign Service Officer Charlene Hoff represented the Cook Islands at the Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) meeting in Palau. FIJI GOVT/26090112The Cook Islands joined fellow Pacific SIDS (Small Island Developing States) in Palau this week to discuss preparations for Pre-COP31 and the Second International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, to be co-hosted by Tuvalu and Ireland in 2027. Cook Islands deputy High Commissioner to Fiji Antonina Browne and Pacific Regional Foreign Service Officer Charlene Hoff represented the Cook Islands at the meeting, convened…