The 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders’ Meeting began in Palau on August 31, with discussions on regional security and development taking place alongside the absences of several heads of government. The summit’s agenda included diplomatic relations involving China and Taiwan, a recent Chinese missile test, and climate finance initiatives.
Several national leaders did not attend the opening of the forum. The leaders of Kiribati, Samoa, and Vanuatu sent deputies, while Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka remained in his country to address domestic matters, according to reports. Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister Matthew Wale, the outgoing PIF chair, departed Palau shortly after arriving, citing a no-confidence motion filed against him in Honiara. Foreign Minister Rick Hou represented the Solomon Islands in his place.
Kiribati was represented by David Teaabo, its director of foreign service and a former ambassador to China, rather than a cabinet-level official.
The meeting followed a July 6 submarine-launched ballistic missile test conducted by China in the Pacific. According to Taiwan’s government, the missile passed through the exclusive economic zones of the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Kiribati. In response, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape stated that Pacific nations “do not want history repeated,” referencing the region’s past with nuclear testing. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the test as “provocative” and “destabilizing.”
At a PIF foreign ministers’ meeting in Fiji in early August, Kiribati and Nauru did not support a consensus to issue a joint statement condemning the test. New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters commented on the situation, stating that two countries “were seeking to use the need for consensus as a veto provision.”
The participation of Taiwan as a development partner also factored into the forum’s dynamics. Taiwan, which has formal diplomatic ties with the host nation Palau, attended the meeting after being excluded from the 2025 summit hosted by the Solomon Islands. A delegation led by Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung participated in the Taiwan/Republic of China-Forum Countries Dialogue.
Ahead of the summit, China’s special envoy Qian Bo addressed Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr. at a meeting in Fiji, requesting Taiwan’s exclusion and stating that Beijing would “have to retaliate,” according to Whipps. President Whipps recounted the exchange to reporters, stating, “We’ve made it very clear from the beginning [that] nobody is going to tell us who our friends can be.”
On August 19, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a travel advisory for Palau, citing reports of theft and marine dangers. The U.S. Embassy in Palau released a statement in response, saying, “The United States opposes any attempts by China to weaponize tourism to coerce Palau.” Tourism contributes to a significant portion of Palau’s gross domestic product.
Since 2019, three PIF members—Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Nauru—have switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. Three members—the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu—currently maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The official theme of the PIF meeting is “B.E.L.A.U.,” an acronym for Building Economies, Life, Action, Unity. Other items on the summit’s agenda include a climate declaration and the Pacific Resilience Facility, a regional climate finance fund that has secured $173 million in pledges toward its $500 million goal.
