Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Fiji disrupted as Kiribati and Naoero block statement on China missile test

Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers meeting in Suva has been disrupted after Kiribati and Naoero blocked a regional statement criticising China's recent ballistic missile test. The dispute has drawn fresh attention to the influence of outside powers in Pacific diplomacy, with New Zealand's foreign minister suggesting China may be seeking to shape the gathering. Australia and New Zealand had both been pressing for a clear regional response, but consensus was not reached.

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According to officials from multiple Pacific Islands Forum nations, the statement had broad support in the room before it was blocked during the meeting in Fiji. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said two countries had effectively used the requirement for consensus as a veto, although he did not name them in his remarks. He also said those countries were responding to the wishes of an outside partner, again without naming China directly.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called on Pacific ministers to show leadership as the meeting continued. Mr Peters said the two countries blocking the statement did not set out reasons for their opposition beyond disagreement, and he described their position as lacking logic. In private, one official from a Pacific Islands Forum nation was even more critical, calling Kiribati's stance absurd and accusing it of lecturing ministers about consensus while ignoring the mood in the room.

The row matters because the Pacific Islands Forum is one of the main regional bodies through which island states coordinate on security and diplomatic issues. A failure to agree on a statement about China's missile test underlines how competition between major powers is increasingly affecting Pacific decision-making. It also shows the difficulty of maintaining a unified regional position when some members have developed closer ties with Beijing in recent years.

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The disagreement comes after Pacific nations failed to reach consensus on the issue last month, prompting Australia and New Zealand to push for a clearer response at this week's meeting. The blocked statement was intended to make the region's opposition to the missile test explicit. Instead, the dispute has exposed divisions inside the forum and raised questions about how far external relationships are shaping the positions of individual members.

What remains unclear is whether the ministers will find a compromise text or leave the issue unresolved. It is also not clear whether the blocked statement will be revisited later in the meeting or in a separate forum process. For now, the episode has become a test of regional unity and of the Pacific Islands Forum's ability to speak with one voice on security concerns.

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