カテゴリー: Pacific leaders: in their words
Exclusive: Pacific island’s new leader Lord Fakafānua discusses ‘exciting’ US partnership as critics fear impacts of seabed explorationThe recently elected leader of Tonga has described a deal to partner with the US on deep-sea mineral exploration as a…
Exclusive: Prime minister Feletei Teo says Tuvalu may withdraw from crucial meeting after key countries such as Taiwan were barred from attendingTuvalu’s prime minister Feletei Teo said his country may pull out of the region’s top political meeting nex…
Exclusive: In the wake of unrest that rattled the French overseas territory, Alcide Ponga discusses how to rebuild and his plan for the futureOne year after the deadly riots that ravaged Nouméa and shattered New Caledonia’s economy and social fabric, n…
Exclusive: Jotham Napat said pact must be taken ‘back to the drawing board’ and should reflect climate change as security issueVanuatu’s new prime minister has said his government intends to “revisit” a security agreement with Australia, arguing it doe…
Samoa’s prime minister says US withdrawal from Paris climate agreement is ‘very disappointing’ and puts the survival of Pacific countries at greater riskLeaders and environmental advocates in the Pacific have expressed alarm over Donald Trump’s decisio…
In an exclusive interview, Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa tells the Guardian she is surprised at Trump’s pick for health secretary and criticised anti-vaxxers for their part in 2019 measles crisisSamoa’s prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa, has criticised Rober…
Ishmael Toroama tells the Guardian sovereignty from Papua New Guinea is a ‘matter of time’ as long-running process enters next phase Ishmael Toroama’s life has been dominated by a single ambition. The president of Bougainville, an autonomous island tha…
Northern Mariana Islands governor says ‘the world is changing in the Indo-Pacific’ as work continues in the US territory on defense developmentThe governor of the Northern Mariana Islands says an $800m US military upgrade plan which includes a new airf…
Brothers-in-law face off in a presidential battle over the economy, cost of living and relations with global powersFlanked by a turquoise lagoon, a newly rebuilt US military runway slices through forest in southern Palau. Completed just months ago, the…
Wesley Simina says the US is ‘well advanced’ in plans for $400m airport upgrade in Yap, amid rising tensions with China in the regionThe US is considering military projects across the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) as it pushes ahead with plans f…