Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets with Solomon Islands PM Jeremiah Manele at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga. Photo / Jake O'Flaherty
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets with Solomon Islands PM Jeremiah Manele at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga. Photo / Jake O'Flaherty
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is expressing New Zealand’s support of Taiwan’s place at the Pacific Islands Forum amid a report China wants member states to prevent Taiwan from attending next year’s event.
It comes on the morning of the forum leaders’ retreat on the Tongan island of Vavaʻu where Pacificleaders will discuss the dominant issues of this year’s gathering, including unrest in New Caledonia, climate change action and the Australia-funded Pacific policing initiative.
Luxon held several bilateral meetings yesterday with other Pacific leaders. The more tangible outcomes from the meetings included $40 million of spending in Tonga to help rebuild its Parliament and construct an undersea cable – two projects New Zealand had partnered with Australia on.
Luxon, alongside other leaders, flew out to Vava’u today for the overnight retreat. The structure of the retreat was unique to the forum in that no officials would be present and leaders were left to discuss regional issues by themselves.
Luxon was set to hold a media stand-up tomorrow following the retreat.
Earlier this week, it was reported the Solomon Islands intended to table a motion challenging Taiwan’s participation at the forum as a partner country.
A report in the Australian claimed the directive had come from China with the intention to bar Taiwan from next year’s forum, which would be held in the Solomon Islands.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon taking part in a women's rugby event at a stadium in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Photo / Adam Pearse
Luxon said the issue hadn’t been raised with him but stated New Zealand was “quite comfortable” with the current arrangements.
Asked whether host countries should have the power to prevent the attendance of participants at regional forums, Luxon said such decisions should be made through “consensus” and suspected the role of partner countries could be discussed during the retreat.
Luxon appeared eager for the retreat and said he appreciated the format, likening it to an event he’d attended last night.
“We only had one official each in the room and you sort of relax and there’s more conversation that sort of happens,” he said.
“I’ve built actually quite strong personal relationships with all the leaders and, with all their different personalities, actually being able to have those conversations and just talk really straight about it all, I think it’s really good.”
Luxon held several bilateral meetings yesterday with other Pacific leaders. The more tangible outcomes from the meetings included $40 million of spending in Tonga to help rebuild its Parliament and construct an undersea cable - two projects New Zealand had partnered with Australia on.
Luxon also had a series of more informal meetings. Yesterday, Luxon’s office said one such meeting was private and refused to say who it was with.
PM Christopher Luxon meets with Samoa PM Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga. Photo / Pool
The US Embassy in Wellington later confirmed to The Post that Campbell had met with Luxon, describing it as a “very positive” meeting.
Luxon today denied his meeting with Campbell had been a secret, saying it was one of several brief conversations he had with country representatives including the UK, Brazil, Canada and Switzerland.
“It’s not a secret. It’s what you call a pull-aside [meeting].
“They’re not sort of deeply formal meetings, it was just sort of catch-ups.”
Luxon said the Aukus security pact was not discussed with Campbell, describing a basic conversation between the pair about the forum and upcoming announcements.
Luxon’s Australian counterpart, Albanese, could face further scrutiny in light of comments he and Campbell shared regarding the Pacific policing initiative which has grown into one of the forum’s primary issues.
The initiative, worth more than $400m, proposed establishing a police training facility in Brisbane alongside other centres throughout the Pacific with the aim of having a police force that could assist Pacific nations during incidents like a natural disaster.
Albanese has adamantly maintained the initiative was “Pacific-led”, however, it was understood it also sought to counter China’s growing security presence in the region.
A video published by RNZ today captured the pair talking about the initiative, pointing to discussions the US and Australia had conducted on the topic of Pacific policing and Campbell saying: “We’ve given you the lane, so take the lane.”
Alongside a growing Chinese presence, the US had also become more heavily involved in the Pacific, which was now considered the centre of geopolitical competition.
Albanese this morning disagreed the video indicated collaboration between the US and Australia. He went on to criticise the journalist for recording what he considered to be a private conversation.
The video showed the conversation occurred within the Tonga High School indoor stadium. It has been used for many forum events throughout the week and was readily accessible to journalists, something known to Pacific leaders.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
