Pacific nations, especially Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, are among the most vulnerable nations to be nearly entirely inundated by rising sea levels.

Fiji is ‘strategically important’ for Pacific maritime routes, and its deep water port access appeals to Beijing amid stronger competition in the Pacific.

The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands will not attend this week’s annual Pacific Islands Forum, which also counts Australia and New Zealand among its members.

American leader extols ‘security, prosperity and dignity’ for Oceanic allies and partners in latest response to China’s decades-long inroads in region.

The White House is hosting Pacific island leaders on Monday as Biden promises to take US engagement in region to ‘next level’ but there are notable absences from the meeting.

Seven of the 10 Chinese suspects arrested in Singapore’s massive money-laundering probe held foreign passports from the likes of Cambodia and Vanuatu, where citizenship can be bought for as little as US$130,000.

Three sailors who were trying to travel from Vanuatu to Australia were rescued in the Coral Sea after sharks attacked their inflatable boat

Sato Kilman has held the PM post before and has clashed with neighbouring Australia. In 2015, he met Xi Jinping and pledged for closer ties with China.

Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party are meeting to consider declaring a ‘region of peace and neutrality’, as the nations are at the centre of a geopolitical contest.

The Qushan and the Haimen head to distant waters with the power to board and inspect vessels.

The US secretary of state delivered a barbed warning about aid and investment from Beijing as he became the first American foreign minister to visit the Pacific island nation.

Macron relaunched his country’s Indo-Pacific approach last year after a row over a cancelled submarine contract with Australia, casting France as the balancing power in a region dominated by China-US tussle.

Ministers from Vanuatu and Tevalua condemn Australia’s long and continuing enthusiasm for coal and gas projects.

Talks are being explored as the South Pacific is no longer regarded as the ‘hole of the Asia-Pacific doughnut’, and China is looking to cement an economic foothold in the region.

Adventure cruises allow more interaction than ever with far-flung communities, from Melanesian tribes to the traditional craftsmen of Vietnam’s Mekong River delta,

Vanuatu is one of the countries most susceptible to natural disasters like earthquakes, storm damage, flooding and tsunamis, according to the annual World Risk Report.

Far-flung French territory holds 7.1 million tonnes of high-grade nickel vital for making lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles.

China will cut import tariffs on almost all taxable items shipped from 16 of the world’s poorest countries, including Cambodia, Laos, Djibouti, Rwanda and Togo, amid strained relations with the likes of the United States and Australia.

The US is renegotiating the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, a centrepiece of its relationship with 16 Pacific nations and territories.

‘The Earth is already too hot and unsafe. We are in danger now, not just in the future,’ Prime Minister Bob Loughman said, citing US$1.2 billion needed; similar declarations by dozens of other countries, including neighbour Fiji.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi’s trip comes in wake of deal that will reportedly allow Beijing to deploy forces and naval assets to the islands; also concerns about tactics Chinese police might use to maintain order.

Small island developing states’ leaders made impassioned pleas at the UN General Assembly for help combating climate change, but their lifeline – tourism – remains a major contributor to it.

Bob Loughman had previously called for Jakarta to address allegations of human rights abuses in the region, while China’s largesse has been one of the factors leading to Pacific island nations speaking up about Indonesia’s handling of its restive easternmost provinces.

Canadian citizen Dan McGarry, who has worked in the Pacific island nation for more than a decade, was barred from boarding a flight from Australia to Vanuatu, a move he said was retaliation for his coverage.

In a new study, Australia’s Lowy Institute has warned that fragile Pacific nations risk borrowing too much and leaving themselves exposed to demands from Beijing.

Many of Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies will join world leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum this week.