KOROR, Palau — The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting officially opened Monday in Palau, a remote archipelago with no traffic lights, where the population swelled from 18,000 to 20,000 as delegates from dozens of countries arrived. Ahead of the summit, Palau's president and other senior officials walked the main road collecting trash, while barbers and tattoo artists prepared to serve as drivers and student volunteers readied to usher dignitaries.
But beneath the distinctively Pacific character of the event — where decisions are made by consensus rather than by vote and matters unfold in their own unhurried time — simmered a fraught and escalating geopolitical debate about who gets to shape the future of the vast ocean region.
Powerful nations interested in the Pacific have raced in recent years to shore up alliances, intensifying a contest for influence between China and the United States, Taiwan, and forum members Australia and New Zealand. The sometimes-conflicting bids to win sway have also drawn dividing lines among the forum's members, threatening to derail annual summits.
"The Pacific is our home, not a theater for geopolitical competition," Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr. told reporters Sunday, as he urged the bigger countries closely observing this week's event not to interfere in talks he hoped would center on problems desperately imperiling small Pacific island nations, such as climate change and struggling economies.
"Let's not use this as a place that we should be threatening or making people feel uncomfortable," he added. The reality, however, was unlikely to be simple.
Taiwan's Role and Beijing's Warning
Palau is one of just 12 countries worldwide that recognize Taiwan. Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung attended the summit, provoking a warning from Beijing that China would oppose Taiwanese officials' participation. The forum's foreign ministers failed to reach consensus on a statement criticizing Beijing's launch of a ballistic missile into the South Pacific Ocean in July, reflecting the deep divisions.
Leadership Shake-Ups and Absences
The summit also saw notable leadership disruptions. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale returned home just hours after arriving because an opponent had mounted a leadership challenge. Kiribati's President Taneti Maamau was absent from the summit. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told reporters in Koror on Sunday, referring to bids for foreign interference in the event, "You'd be defying gravity and logic if you said it wasn't a big problem."
Economic and Climate Pressures
Beyond the geopolitical maneuvering, Pacific leaders grappled with urgent economic and environmental challenges. Fuel volatility from the Iran war prompted some Pacific countries experiencing severe economic shocks to declare national emergencies. Whipps suggested that wealthy countries seeking involvement in the region could finance the widespread establishment of solar power capabilities across the region.
Oliver Nobetau, Pacific Islands program director at the Lowy Institute, said the consensus-based model, referred to as the Pacific Way, "can sometimes lead to a bit of paralysis in taking action." The Pacific Islands Forum has 18 member countries and territories, many with populations in the low thousands or tens of thousands.