China To Host Pacific Foreign Ministers For First In-person Summit In Xiamen
In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the meeting in Xiamen scheduled for 28-29 May.
It said 'it will be the first of its kind to be held offline in China.'
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters at a daily news briefing on last Wednesday that foreign ministers or representatives from 11 island countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and the Pacific Islands Forum deputy secretary general Esala Nayasi will attend the meeting.
Mao said that the participants will have in-depth exchanges of views on all-round cooperation between China and Pacific Island countries, as well as on international and regional issues of mutual interest.
China is ready to leverage the upcoming meeting to implement the important consensuses reached by leaders of both sides, strengthen solidarity and coordination, pursue common development and prosperity, she said.
she said the objective of the meeting is to jointly build an even closer China-Pacific Island countries community with a shared future.
Mao said China highly value its ties with the Pacific Island countries, and friendly cooperation between the two sides has continued to deepen and expand in recent years.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, those attending include:
Kiribati Pesident and Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau
Niue Prime Minister Premier and Foreign Minister Dalton Tagelagi
Tonga' Crown Prince and Minister for Foreign Affairs Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala
Nauru's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Lionel Rouwen Aingimea
Federated States of Micronesia's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Lorin Robert
Solomon Islands Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Peter Shanel Agovaka
Vanuatu's Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade Marc Ati
Papua New Guinea's Minister for Foreign Affairs Justin Tkatchenko
Cook Islands Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration Tingika Elikana
Fiji's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Lenora Qereqeretabua
Samoa's Ambassador to China Luamanuvae Mariner,
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
On Teachers, Ferries And The Really Wasteful Spending
In the context of yesterday's teachers strike, Judith Collins claimed that teachers with ten years of experience 'can' (not 'do') earn $147,000 a year. In reality though, teachers have to pay their mortgage/rent and put food on the table with their actual earnings, not with an aspirational figure. Moreover, Cabinet Ministers earning $396,000 a year (plus a myriad of valuable perks and subsidies) are hardly in a position to decry others getting fair pay for the work they do, and for the value they give back to society. (Every backbench MP is paid $20,000 a year more than Collins' theoretical example.) The people who teach our children day in, year out are being offered a net pay cut - 1% a year for the next three years – at a time when inflation is currently running at just below 3%, and rising. Finally, the accusation that the PPTA walked out prematurely – after six days of formal negotiation – ignores the fact that months of engagement preceded these talks, and plainly, the Ministry was not willing to budge from its inflammatory position. There's no point in coming back from the picket lines to talk, when the government is dead-set against compromise. That inflexible mindset is what the strike action has aimed to change. The government, which dearly wants to distract public attention away from its wider failings, is probably welcoming this stoush. Housing for some A year ago this month, the coalition government launched its new policy on emergency housing, which - traditionally – has been the last resort for people with nowhere else to go. The new guidelines made access to emergency housing more difficult to get, and harder to keep. As a result over the past year, city footpaths and shop doorways have been seeing a sharp influx of homeless people. On the Spinoff, Joel McManus has written a solid backgrounder on the issues involved. Yet in a sideshow of extravagance last week.. Defence Minister Judith Collins opened a huge $250 million building at Ohakea Air Base that will house the Air Force's four Poseidon P-8A surveillance aircraft. Good to know that this fleet of hugely expensive aircraft (the original price tag for the basics was $2.34 billion before upgrades and add-ons) will be housed in a state-of-the-art 20,000 square metre building, in between the times they fly off around the Pacific looking for Chinese submarines that may (or may not) be out there. Priority: spend a quarter of a billion dollars on lavish housing for four aeroplanes, while cutting the ability of Kainga Ora to build housing for the tens of thousands of New Zealanders in need of a roof over their heads. Go figure. Ferries follies More revealing numbers surfaced last week about the cost of cancelling the iRex Cook Strait ferries. The total payments to South Korea's Hyundai Mipo shipyard amount to $222 million, which is the initial deposit plus the $144 million penalty imposed for breaking the contract. Reportedly, an additional $449 million has been spent on the portside infrastructure, and on the project management expenses that have included the cost of negotiating the exit. The government has made it clear that it intends to scale back the renewal of the portside infrastructure. Much of that work will simply be kicked down the road. As a result, taxpayers/travellers/firms will have to cope for years to come with rundown and already inadequate terminal facilities. The smaller ferries now being purchased will also provide a less reliable, less comfortable service during the sort of adverse weather that led to the ferry cancellations last week. There will also be a significant delay until those inferior ferries are delivered. As yet, there has been no official estimate of the economic cost of deferring the arrival of new ferries from 2026 (when the iRex ferries were due to enter service) until 2029, which is the earliest estimated arrival time of the replacement vessels. How many hundreds of millions will be lost via this avoidable delay? The government isn't asking, or telling. As yet, we don't know which shipyard will be contracted to build the new ferries. If, at year's end, this proves to be Hyundai Mipo, one can only conclude that the $144 million breakage fee was a concession, as part of a package deal. To put that another the lucky bidder turns out to be Hyundai Mipo, will that decision have been based on merit, or will it be the by-product of yet another cost cutting exercise, and a condition imposed by the South Koreans for halving the breakage fee from its original ballpark estimate of circa $300 million. This fiasco is being played out on our main domestic trade and tourism link. Footnote: As indicated above, Defence spending occurs in a silo that's largely exempted from the government's austerity measures. Despite the absence of any credible foreign threat to this country – apart from US tariffs – the coalition government will be spending $12 billion of taxpayer money on armaments and weapons delivery systems over the next few years. This irrational diversion of the nation's resources has become so normalised that it is easy to overlook just how much New Zealand society could be transformed if a fraction of that money was spent on the actual needs here at home. Consider for example, that $144 million iRex ferries contract breakage fee alone. How could that amount of money have been spent more usefully? Here are a few options, estimated on the basis of the averaged-out labour costs. Registered nurses (Reg nurse pay rates $74,000 to $153,000 pa. Average of these figs = $113,500 p.a.) Divide $144m by $113,500 = You could pay 1,269 nurses for a year merely from the breakage fee for the ferries contract. OR Support workers ("help people with health problems or disabilities to do daily tasks, such as housework, and be as independent as possible.") (Per hour rates only given: $24 to $28 /hour = $49,920 to $58,240 p.a. Average of these = $54,080 p.a.) Divide $144m by $54,080 = you could pay 2,663 support workers for a year OR Teacher aides (Per hour rates : $28 to $35 /hour = $58,240 to $72,800 p.a. Average of these = $65,520 p.a.) Divide $144m by $65,520 = you could pay 2,198 teacher aides for a year OR Early childhood teachers EC teacher $49,000 to $78,000 p.a. Average = $63,500 p.a.) Divide $144m by $63,500 = you could pay 2,268 Early Childhood teachers for a year. These are the kind of options not being taken. Billions are being wasted on (a) the shonky ferries replacement(b) Defence procurements to combat phantom enemies and (c) that $3 billion tax handout to landlords. Social services are being starved in order to make these follies possible. Thomas the Rhymer And now, a poem about bargaining, and the costs to be paid. In the 1970s, many people became aware of the medieval tale of Thomas the Rhymer through the hit song of the same name by the British folk group, Steeleye Span. Around the same time, I ran across this reading of the poem – in ye olde English – by Ian Stewart. It brings out the inherent musicality of the old language. This is a poem to be said, not read. More to the point, Stewart brings to life the otherworldly nature of the encounter between True Thomas, and the sad, seductive Queen of fair Elfland. In the video, the olde 78rpm recording is a reminder of how incredibly fast those ancient brittle discs would spin around on the turntable:
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Former Tongan government legal advisor backs King's move to control diplomacy
Tonga's King Tupou VI Photo: AFP A former chief legal advisor to the Tongan government has weighed in on a recent bill passed by Tonga's parliament that gives the King direct control over foreign affairs. On 5 August, the Tongan Legislative Assembly passed a law to transfer oversight of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - now known as His Majesty's Diplomatic Service - to the Palace Office. King Tupou VI has never made any secret of his desire to maintain authority over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His son, Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala, is currently serves as Foreign Affairs Minister. The move has upset democracy advocates, while royal supporter that the decision should not be questioned . Aminiasi Kefu, former solicitor-general and acting attorney-general of Tonga, told Pacific Waves that the change brings "certainty". Kefu is now based in New Zealand and works as a senior prosecutor at the Manukau Crown Prosecutor's Office. He said Tonga's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been operating in a "gray area", even before the 2010 democratic reform. "I say that because Ministry of Foreign Affairs had always had a foot under the two main constitutional authorities in Tonga: under the King and also under the Prime Minister," he said. "Even before the 2010 reforms, His Majesty appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs was responsible to His Majesty directly through Cabinet and also Privy Council. "At the same time the administrative head of foreign affairs was still appointed under the Prime Minister's Office, under the public service regulations for appointing heads of of departments. Still, the appointment of that head of department was still under the consultation of His Majesty." Asked if the recent move is an undoing of the move toward more democracy, Kefu said it would appear that is the case "to some extent". However, he said the decision makes it clearer where foreign affairs stands. "When we had the reforms in 2010, the two fundamental areas that were not to be part of the reform was the King's prerogative powers and land. "When we had the reforms, the King's royal prerogative powers regarding foreign affairs were not changed. They still remain the same and hence why Foreign Affairs had been operating in a gray area because the constitutional powers of the King regarding foreign affairs was still there, whereas the administrative powers regarding foreign affairs would move to the Prime Minister's Office. Kefu said this resulted created confusion over who actually controlled foreign affairs. He explained that every prime minister since 2010 has faced this issue, as the King retains constitutional authority over foreign affairs, while the Prime Minister has administrative powers. He said the new legislation clarifies the situation. "Technically, it's not totally out of government, because under the new legislation there's still going to be a minister for His Majesty's Diplomatic Services. Under the current constitution, a Cabinet Minister is appointed by the Prime Minister. Obviously, it's an area where His Majesty is involved [and] there will be consultation. Aminiasi Kefu Photo: twitter "There's now more clarity on where the actual powers are and who's directing the diplomatic services." Kefu said there has been a disconnect between the Palace Office and the Prime Minister's Office, and the issue demonstrates the the tension between the constitutional legal and framework since 2010. "[The] current King has seen it his way forward to try to fix that problem. To be frank neither party accepted the situation or understood the dynamics under the constitutional reforms." When asked what could be expected in terms of performance of His Majesty's Diplomatic Services - and if the move could lead to past issues such as the controversial sale of illegal passports - Kefu dismissed such concerns as "unrealistic". "We've learned through that phase. There's still going to be that accountability and checks and balances because it will be a Privy Council with the King at the head of the Diplomatic Services. They still be subject to the laws of the land. He added that the connection with Cabinet will ensure that foreign affairs is strong, particularly with their finances, reporting and staffing of that new body. "I think there'll be more fluidity, certainty [and] clarity on how they operate [and] where they stand."
RNZ News
21 hours ago
- RNZ News
China and India attempt to warm up frosty relations
Asia correspondent Adam Hancock spoke to Lisa Owen about China and India trying to warm up relations after years of frosty tensions, as well as a Peruvian woman who has been accused of smuggling drugs into Bali via a sex toy and could face the death penality if found guilty. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
