Results for Pacific Islands

While the Pacific Forum Leaders last week reaffirmed their offer to support Fiji's early return to democracy and the progress made towards an election in September 2014, Fiji has made new friends and established ties with North Korea and Iran in the Non Aligned Movement.

The Pacific Ocean faces threats from over-fishing, pollution and climate change. Annually more than 786,000 tonnes of fish are illegally taken from the Pacific and its tuna fisheries are in danger of being over exploited. “The Pacific Ocean unites all the countries in the region,” said Marea Hatziolos, Senior Coastal and Marine Specialist for the World Bank. “Tremendous progress has been achieved regionally in fisheries agreements and conservation, but the battle is not yet won. This is a timely focus, at a critical juncture for Pacific Island populations.”

The United States has stepped up its commitment to work with its Pacific Island partners with the second visit to the region by the US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt M. Campbell, and the Pacific Fleet Commander, Admiral Cecil Haney, with an interagency delegation.

Kurt Campbell, the US Assistant Secretary of State for the East Asian and Pacific Affairs, arrives in Tonga on August 1, the first stop of a tour that includes six other Pacific Island countries.

"I am quite surprised, you know there is a mention of a plot to assassinate the illegal dictator in Fiji, so I am still surprised as to how my name came into the picture," was Ratu Tevita Mara's reaction to a TVNZ news item that the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service SIS and police had this week raided the Auckland home of Rajesh Singh, alleged to be involved in a plot to kill Fiji leader Frank Bainimarama and his Attorney General Ayaz Sayed Khaiyum.

The European Union is committed to conclude comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements EPAs with the Pacific region, said the President of the European Union Council and Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Christian Friis Bach. By Linny Folau in Port Vila.

Australia is the largest single ultimate destination for Chinese direct investment, and though Australia is a relatively small economy, it is likely to remain one of China's largest foreign investment destinations for a while to come. At the same time, the scale and pace of growth in Chinese direct investment has led to populist reactions that have challenged the open investment regime in Australia and, in particular, raised policy questions about whether investments by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) need to be treated differently from private investment. By Peter Drysdale, Australia National University.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group has responded in solidarity to the concern and frustration voiced by its Pacific member states over an apparent lack of commitment from the European Union to conclude comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements. By Linny Folau in Port Vila.

The 95th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers Meeting was opened on June 11, with an emphasis to reinvent ACP as a group to ensure a more solid relationship with the European Union and become a world player under a changing global landscape.