Key facts
- Pacific Island foreign ministers debated issuing a joint statement on China's July missile launch.
- New Zealand pushed for a unified regional response to the missile test.
- Divisions among Pacific Island governments prevented a consensus.
- Solomon Islands' Foreign Minister emphasized a Pacific-led agenda.
- Ministers failed to agree on a joint response.
Pacific Island foreign ministers convened to debate issuing a joint statement concerning China's missile launch in July. New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, had indicated that the talks would reveal whether members could overcome predetermined positions on the matter. Peters described the potential lack of a unified regional response to the missile test as a "missed opportunity" but stated it was not too late for the forum to act. He acknowledged that divisions could prevent agreement, noting that some countries might have already settled positions from which they would not move. China's test-firing of a missile into the Pacific in July had alarmed regional powers but did not initially result in a unified response from Pacific Island governments. This underscored existing divisions over how to navigate the growing strategic competition in the region. Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Rick Houenipwela, who chairs the forum, stated that the Pacific's agenda must be "conceived by the Pacific, shaped by the Pacific and only by the Pacific." He also emphasized that challenges confronting the region are increasingly interconnected and that responses should foster regional solidarity rather than division. Ministers may also discuss the forum's engagement with external dialogue partners, energy security, and potential changes to the grouping's future institutional arrangements. Last year, Pacific leaders backed an "Ocean of Peace" declaration, calling for the region to remain peaceful amid intensifying strategic competition. However, ministers ultimately failed to agree on a joint response to China's missile launch, with further discussions expected at the Pacific leaders meeting at the end of August.