Defence Minister Richard Marles has warned that the U.S.-Australia alliance will need to step up its efforts to counteract Beijing in an increasingly “challenging strategic environment.” The Australian deputy prime minister made the comments in a speech to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. during a four-day trip to the United…

The Pacific Islands Forum has been dealt a heavy blow after the surprise withdrawal of Kiribati from the regional body—the peak intergovernmental organisation in the region. The move comes amid ongoing dissatisfaction from Micronesian countries in the Forum, a festering issue that has erupted amid Beijing’s ongoing influence in the region. On July 10, news…

The surprise withdrawal of Kiribati from the Pacific Islands Forum has dealt a heavy blow to the regional body—the peak intergovernmental organisation in the region. The move comes amid ongoing dissatisfaction from Micronesian countries in the Forum, a festering issue that has erupted amid Beijing’s ongoing influence in the region. On July 10, news of Kiribati’s…

The island country of Fiji is joining the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), according to a Thursday White House statement. Situated in the Pacific, a region that’s increasingly contentious in step with expanding Chinese influence, Fiji’s joining IPEF gives the Biden administration a diplomatic victory over Beijing. “IPEF now reflects the full regional…

Seven people on two separate missing boats in the Pacific have been found and rescued by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The crew on an Air Force P-3K2 Orion plane had spotted both vessels within 10 nautical miles of each other near the Pacific Island nation Kiribati. The two boats had gone missing…

News Analysis Kiribati is dumping a 158,000-square-mile World Heritage marine reserve, the Pacific Islands Forum, and its friendship with Taiwan. Why? The archipelagic state is trading its sovereignty for Beijing’s fast cash. The sovereignty of Kiribati, a nation of islands in the South Pacific between China and the United States, is being submerged not principally…

Mr. Alexander B. Gray is a senior fellow of the Air Force Personnel Center with expertise in the Pacific Islands and the polar regions. He was most recently the chief of staff of the National Security Council at the White House and the deputy assistant to former President Donald Trump. We discuss how the Chinese…

Leaders from nine Pacific Island nations have vowed to deepen their relationship with Beijing, fight the pandemic, and continue collaborating on major infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The pledge comes amid an ongoing tug-of-war between Beijing and democratic allies in the South Pacific region. In late May, top Chinese Communist Party…