Overview

• Delegations at the Suva foreign ministers’ meeting voted to maintain Honiara’s decision to bar the United States, China, Taiwan and 18 other partners from the September leaders’ summit.
• Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka said the move reclaims Pacific control over the agenda and dismisses suggestions of Chinese influence.
• New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters cautioned that external interference threatens to fracture the Forum and urged respect for internal decision-making.
• China’s ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, rejected allegations of Beijing’s involvement as misinformation and reaffirmed China’s commitment to regional dialogue.
• Taiwan, a Forum observer since 1993, expressed disappointment over the exclusion, and donor governments warned the spat could jeopardize future aid and development cooperation.