Tonga
The down-low on deportations and drugs in Tonga
A Tongan drug bust this month has put a spotlight on transnational criminal links in the Pacific, just as the island nation is about to host regional leaders for annual talks…
Polycrisis in the Pacific: How leaders will respond at the PIF Summit in Tonga
The Pacific region is facing a “polycrisis”, said Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka at a Pacific security conference in Suva in June.The mounting threats of climate change,…
Economic diplomacy: Banking on the Pacific
Island bound (again)Australia’s oldest bank changed its name from the Bank of New South Wales to Westpac in 1982, reflecting apparent optimism about business prospects in a…
Pacific Engagement Visas: New developments but quotas unknown
Australia is surprisingly low-key about the recent launch of its new subclass 192 Pacific Engagement Visa lottery that aims to welcome 3,000 new permanent migrants …
Tongan attitudes to the world
Geopolitical competition is ramping up in the Pacific. How do Tongans feel about it?
In 2023, Tonga’s Tupou Tertiary Institute (TTI) surveyed more than 1,000 citizens to better…
State of play for Pacific women in 2024
As 2024 rang in, an historical vote was taking place in the Pacific. Hilda Heine, former president of the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) and first ever female head of state in…
Tonga walks a tightrope on its Chinese debts
Tonga’s debt burden is set to balloon over the next five years as the deadline looms on loans from China. Repayments will see the country’s debt burden rise to among the highest…
Digital dominoes: Australia’s strategic play in the Pacific
Pacific Island countries, with their sprawling geography, have been caught in a digital divide. Lack of critical, digitally enabling infrastructure slows down development progress…
Japan risks its reputation in Oceania with Fukushima discharge
Japan’s decision last month to begin discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean from its destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is fairly unpopular…
The US–Pacific Islands Partnership, one year on
Last September, the United States made some big promises to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) at its first ever Pacific Leaders’ Summit. The brief follow-up summit scheduled to take…