The annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has been held in Tonga, bringing together the leaders of 18 member states to discuss urgent issues. While the participants made pledges and commitments to drive changes in health, education, and the environment sectors, the forum was not without disagreements.
The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum, held in Tonga from August 26 to 30, brought together regional leaders and politicians to discuss and address key challenges to ensure peace and resilience in the region. The week-long event ended with a leaders’ retreat where significant decisions were made including the potential endorsement of a regional policing initiative proposed by Australia.
The forum covered a broad range of topics, with a strong focus on health, education, and climate change. One of the main outcomes was the promise to develop a regional health workforce strategy. The focus on resilience extended to fisheries, with the leaders praising the successful implementation of the Pacific Regional Framework on Community-Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) and agreed to extend this initiative for another five years.
At the Opening Ceremony of the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum, Secretary General Baron Waqa emphasized the need to prioritize resilience across all policies and implementation processes. He said:
“We need to integrate resilience as a matter of priority across all policy and implementation processes, most especially in sectors that relate to our people – primarily health and education. We need to take urgent action now for sustainable outcomes into the future. We need to remain vigilant on issues of regional security and we must ensure that these respond to national and regional needs.”
To support these efforts, the leaders welcomed contributions to the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF) from various partners including Australia (AU$100 million), Saudi Arabia (US$50 million), China (US$500,000), and the United States (US$5 million) in 2023. They also urged other partners to help to reach the PRF’s initial goal of US$500 million by January 2026 while the long-term target is US$1.5 billion. Additional commitments included a pledge from Nauru of AU$1 million over five years, technical support from the UK worth £1.3 million, and a further US$20 million from the U.S.
The leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to deploying the Forum Troika Plus Mission to New Caledonia in line with the request from its government. They noted that both the French State and New Caledonia had agreed on the mission’s terms of reference. Foreign Secretary Tepaeru Herrmann confirmed that they would work closely with New Caledonia, France, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, and Fiji to finalize the mission’s timeline and engagement plans.
Despite the progress made in certain areas, the Pacific Islands Forum was not without disagreement. The organizers decided to remove the Forum’s communique after China’s envoy expressed disapproval over the mention of Taiwan, calling this “unacceptable.”
Although China is not a member of the PIF, along with the U.S. and other major nations, the country participates in certain events as a ‘dialogue partner’. However, for over three decades, Taiwan has held the status of a ‘development partner’, a designation that irritates Beijing. Tensions rose ahead of the summit as the Solomon Islands raised concerns about Taiwan’s role at the Forum. Despite this, the final communique, published on the PIF website, maintained the current arrangement, reaffirming the 1992 decision regarding Taiwan’s status. However, China’s special envoy to the Pacific, Qian Bo, urged that changes were made to the communique.
About the Forum
The Pacific Islands Forum serves as a platform for regional collaboration. It strives to achieve a Pacific vision of peace, unity, and prosperity. Established in 1971, the Forum includes 18 members – Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
