From August 26 to 30 this year the most recent (53rd) summit of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) took place in the Pacific island state of Tonga. The summit was a significant development in the Indo-Pacific theater of the “Great World Game.”

However, commentators on this event are agreed on one point—that the actual functioning of the PIF is of merely secondary importance. The true significance of the event held in Tonga is due to the way it (like all other forums) is affected by the escalating clash between the interests of the world’s leading powers. It is now become a commonplace for those commenting on this event to refer to the “shadow of US-China relations” hanging over the latest meeting of the PIF.

However, this image is not complete enough, as it increasingly signifies the presence of Japan which, after a previous (disastrous) attempt, is reasserting its interests in the Pacific region. But this time it is doing so together with a former enemy and in a competition with the current number two world power, China.

The Taiwan issue at the center of the standoffs in the 53rd PIF Summit

Meanwhile, almost all 18 full members of the PIF, both independent states and “overseas territories” suffer from a large number of serious, and frequently shared, problems. The first of these, which could be described as “external” in origin, has already been referred to. It stems from the fact that the PIF participants (like the 10 Southeast Asian countries that make up ASEAN) are exposed to a field of tensile stresses created by the world’s leading powers in the wider Indo-Pacific region. The involvement of these powers (often quite intense) in various aspects of the activities of certain PIF participants is facilitated by their status of “development partner.”

Since 1992, along with the PRC, Taiwan, with which most Pacific Rim states had diplomatic relations at that time, has also enjoyed “partner” status. But by now there are only three PIF members that still recognize Taiwan. All the others have established diplomatic relations with China,........

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