Pacific Leaders Fait to each Consensus 09/04 06:22

   

   KOROR, Palau (AP) -- Leaders of Pacific nations agreed at their summit to 
register collective "concern" about China's launch of a ballistic missile into 
their waters, but they said Thursday their statement wasn't unanimous and 
stopped short of a sterner rebuke of Beijing's actions.

   The willingness of the Pacific Island Forum's member countries and 
territories to agree during this event to a joint reproach of China for the 
missile launch in July was seen by some as a litmus test for how much the 
geopolitical jostling in the region among major powers had destabilized 
relations among the group of mainly small island states.

   The test launch came after China conducted a missile test in the Pacific two 
years ago, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead, 
the first since 1980.

   Pacific leaders announcing decisions the group made during a private retreat 
day at their annual summit, held this year in Palau, said the island nation of 
Nauru -- which has had warmer ties to China in recent years -- dissented from 
the statement of concern. Further, the country of Kiribati, whose leader was 
absent from this week's event and sent the country's recent former ambassador 
to China in his place, had no representative at all in the daylong retreat, 
according to New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

   Luxon, however, downplayed the significance of Kiribati's non-attendance and 
of Nauru's rare dissent to the clause in the Pacific leaders' end of summit 
communiqu. The document is normally decided by unanimous consensus, an 
important political process in the region, and edited and signed off by the 
leaders themselves during the retreat day with only a handful officials in the 
room.

   "I think we've got to a very good place," Luxon told reporters after 
returning from the retreat. "Yes, Nauru has dissociated itself from that 
statement, but that shouldn't be a reason for why we shouldn't be able to 
express a PIF position or a consensus position."

   Navigating major power ties in Pacific will not be simple

   It wasn't immediately clear why Kiribati was absent or what that meant for 
its position on the leaders' joint statement. But it signaled that the region's 
future in navigating ties to major powers would not be simple.

   The vast Pacific Ocean, with its remote and often sparsely populated island 
states, has ballooned in geopolitical importance over the past decade. Major 
powers, including the United States, China, Taiwan, and Forum members Australia 
and New Zealand, have rushed to shore up access to the countries and 
relationships with Pacific leaders in return for various sweeteners, creating a 
web of sometimes conflicting alliances that have reshaped the region.

   In 2024, Nauru severed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which Beijing sees 
as part of China, to align itself with Beijing. Palau, the host of this year's 
leaders' summit, is one of a handful of countries worldwide still to recognize 
Taiwan, prompting suggestions that the absence of some leaders from this week's 
event could be explained by Beijing's displeasure about Palau's leanings.

   There was no public evidence of that, and those present attributed several 
of the absences, who were all replaced by senior officials from their 
countries, to ill health or politics at home. But the inability of the forum to 
form an agreed position on the missile episode hinted at deeper divisions than 
before.

   Some leaders had hoped for stronger language

   Ahead of the retreat, the event's host Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. 
told reporters that he hoped for strong language in the leaders' communique.

   "A unified Pacific voice is critical in getting Beijing to respect 
sovereignty, to respect transparency, and to be a responsible partner," he 
said. "I think that's the message that we should be sending to Beijing. So it's 
important we have a unified position and we'll work on that."

   While the final document urged notice to be given for tests in future, it 
did not mention China by name and didn't express criticism stronger than 
"concern."

   A joint statement about the missile launch was largely symbolic; many 
countries in the region criticized Beijing's move at the time. However, the 
Forum members' inability to reach consensus on it drew interest when a meeting 
in Suva, Fiji, weeks ago of the foreign ministers of member states ended 
without such a statement being produced -- reportedly because Nauru and 
Kiribati wouldn't agree to one.

   In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters 
that China adheres to the path of peaceful development, firmly pursues a 
defensive national defense policy and never engages in military expansion.

   China is willing to work with South Pacific countries to contribute to 
maintaining peace, development, stability, and prosperity in the South Pacific 
region," he added.