US, China, Taiwan barred from Pacific Islands summit as regional tensions bite

Other dialogue partners such as Singapore, Indonesia also excluded; Australia to attend as member

- Jonathan Pearlman For The Straits Times

SYDNEY - The United States, China, and Taiwan have been barred from the upcoming annual summit of Pacific island nations, a move that analysts say shows heightened awareness among these tiny countries that growing geopolitical rivalries could prove divisive and costly.

Leaders from the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) are set to meet in Solomon Islands from Sept 8 to 12, but the host nation's prime minister, Mr Jeremiah Manele, who is the region's staunchest backer of China, barred the forum's dialogue partners from attending.

The grouping was founded in 1971. It has more than 20 partners which typically attend annual summits but will be excluded in 2025. Among them are Taiwan, China, the US, Japan, France, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and Britain.

The unusual move has highlighted the increased competition between China - which has been expanding its reach across the region - and the US and Australia, which have traditionally had close ties to these strategically important countries.

Australia will attend the event as a PIF member.

China initially tried to pressure Solomon Islands to exclude Taiwan from the summit, which led to several PIF members threatening to boycott the meeting.

Solomon Islands eventually decided to exclude all partners rather than risk dividing a grouping that prides itself on its unity and consensual decision-making.

A Pacific expert, Mr James Batley, a fellow at Australian National University and former Australian high commissioner to Solomon Islands, told The Straits Times that the exclusion of the PIF partners showed "the strength of Chinese influence over Solomon Islands' foreign policy".