Tag - oceania

 
Menu
Search
 
August 16, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

OCEANIA

Flags from the Pacific Islands countries wave on the breeze in Yaren, Nauru, on the last day of the 2018 Pacific Islands Forum.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 12, 2025
China, U.S. pledge funds for Pacific Islands ahead of meet they are barred from
The Solomon Islands, which hosts an annual leaders meeting for the region blocked 21 donor countries from attending after pressure from Beijing to exclude Taiwan.
Emperor Naruhito meets with Micronesian President Wesley Simina at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025
Emperor meets with Micronesia's president
Emperor Naruhito thanked Micronesian President Wesley Simina for visiting Fukushima Prefecture in March to observe the reconstruction efforts there.
Marine biologist Teina Rongo on his boat passing the research vessel MV Anuanua Moana in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on June 12. Mining exploration has left many Cook Islanders such as Rongo fearing deep-sea mining could taint their precious ocean forever.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 23, 2025
The Pacific island nation that wants to mine the ocean floor
Research vessels roam the seas around the Cook Islands in search of deposits of battery metals, rare earths and critical minerals.
Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu (left) welcomes United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the tarmac of Port Vila's international airport, on May 18, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 23, 2025
Vanuatu calls upcoming ICJ ruling a 'game-changer' for climate justice
Vanuatu's climate change minister says he hopes the International Court of Justice will say it is the "legal obligation of states to address climate change."
The serpentine coastline of Funafuti Atoll, home to nearly half of Tuvalu's entire population of 11,500, on Feb. 19, 2004.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 26, 2025
Nearly one-third of Tuvalu citizens seek to live in Australia on climate visa
The visa program has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration.
People shop at a covered market in Suva, Fiji, on Sept. 5.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2025
Pacific Islands should boost women's participation in work, says World Bank
Six countries did not have paid parental leave, often forcing women to leave the labor force when they started families, a report said.
A Chinese Coast Guard vessel on screen in Beijing. The coast guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships to Pacific Island ministers last week.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 7, 2025
China demonstrates coast guard capability with move toward high seas patrols
The Chinese Coast Guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships to Pacific Island ministers last week.
Rainmaker Mountain in Pago Pago, American Samoa
BUSINESS
May 21, 2025
Trump sets stage to sell ocean mining rights off American Samoa
There’s growing appetite in Washington for new domestic sources of critical minerals, following China’s decision to curb exports of rare-earth materials.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. delivers speaks during a function at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2025
Palau stands with Taiwan 'until death do us part,' President Whipps says
Despite rising pressure from China, Palau says its support for Taiwan is unshakable — even as military risks grow.
China's recent naval exercises near Australia and New Zealand, though legal, highlight Beijing’s growing reach and willingness to test other nations' responses.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2025
China pushes the military envelope with power projections
This week, Chinese ships conducted military exercises, including live-fire drills, in waters near Australia and New Zealand. While legal, the moves expose its hypocrisy.
Nauru is selling citizenship to fund its retreat from rising seas as other climate finance runs dry.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 28, 2025
Nauru sells citizenship to fund climate change mitigation
The island nation of around 13,000 residents is planning a mass inland relocation as creeping seas start to eat away at its fertile coastal fringe.
Sailors on board the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Arunta observe the People's Liberation Army Navy Fuchi-class replenishment vessel and Weishanhu Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang in the Tasman Sea. Australia's foreign minister voiced concern on Friday over live-fire drills conducted by three Chinese warships sailing off the country's east coast.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 25, 2025
Chinese navy drill in Tasman Sea forced 49 flights to change paths
Authorities had been alerted to the rare live-fire exercise in international waters by an airline pilot, the head of Australia's air traffic control agency says.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles listens during an AUKUS meeting in London on Sept. 26, 2024.
WORLD
Feb 23, 2025
New Zealand says China navy held another live-fire drill in international waters
Similar drills a day earlier had forced airlines in the area to divert some flights.
People protest against the decision to virtually shut down the United States Agency for International Development, in Washington on Feb. 5. U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze has halted vital projects in the South Pacific, aid workers and analysts say, risking lives and hurting U.S. efforts to woo the region.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2025
U.S. aid freeze stops crucial South Pacific projects
For years the U.S. has helped to buy life-saving medicine, combat illegal fishing and better prepare coastal hamlets for earthquakes and typhoons.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown addresses the media in Bonn, Germany, in October 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 14, 2025
Cook Islands in talks with China on deep-sea mining
The Cook Islands causes concern in New Zealand as it moves toward a possible collaboration with China on deep-sea mining.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea leader James Marape address a news conference in Sydney on Dec. 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2024
Australia shows how smart diplomacy is done
Recent deals reflect the laser focus the Australian government is devoting to its closest neighbors and a bureaucratic reorganization that translates into action.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te delivers a speech in the Marshall Islands' parliament in Majuro on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 3, 2024
Taiwan's Lai kicks off Marshall Islands visit as China fumes
The trip follows a stopover in the U.S. during which he discussed "China's military threats" toward Taiwan with former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te speaks during the annual Taiwan-EU investment forum in Taipei on Nov. 18.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 28, 2024
Taiwan president's plan to stop over in Hawaii and Guam angers Beijing
Lai Ching-te will depart Saturday for a visit to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — the only Pacific island nations among Taiwan's 12 remaining allies.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. said the latest incursion by Chinese research vessels into his country's exclusive economic zone took place earlier this week.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 13, 2024
China is flouting Palau's ocean boundaries, president says
Chinese research vessels have been lurking "uninvited" within the Pacific nation's waters, newly reelected President Surangel Whipps Jr. says.
The China-funded Sinamale bridge being built in Male, Maldives, in 2018. China's Belt and Road initiative has been critical in drawing small Indo-Pacific island states closer to Beijing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 8, 2024
Small island states are turning to China — and then back again
To stop small island states in the Indo-Pacific from being wooed by Chinese promises of economic largesse, Japan, Australia and India must harmonize their policies.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Japanese star convicted of indecent assault in Hong Kong
J-pop idol Kenshin Kamimura leaves the West Kowloon Law Courts on bail in Hong Kong on Wednesday, after he was found guilty of indecent assault of a woman who worked as his interpreter at a restaurant in Mong Kok district in March this year.
Tens of thousands left stranded at Osaka Expo by train service interruption
Visitors rest inside the Osaka Expo venue early Thursday morning
Welcoming foreign residents benefits Japan, three quarters of economists say
The streets of Tokyo's Ginza district in April. The number of foreign residents in Japan hit a record high at 3.76 million as of the end of last year, comprising just over 3% of the population.
Hiker missing in Hokkaido after bear attack found dead
The Rausu mountain range at Hokkaido's Shiretoko National Park. A man in his 20s who went missing after being attacked by a bear while hiking on Mount Rausu has been found dead.
The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731
Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
Will Ishiba's critics be able to garner enough support for a leadership race?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's political survival likely hinges on whether a leadership race will take place within the Liberal Democratic Party following its decision to have its election committee canvass the opinions of party members and prefectural chapters on the subject.
Hidden rosters and the legacy of Japan’s germ warfare
Katsutoshi Takegami, 77, in his storehouse attic where he discovered his father's Unit 1644 documents
Osaka Expo highlights the challenge of holding events in Japan's scorching summer
People huddle near a large fan blowing icy-cold mist at the Osaka Expo on July 12. Amid Japan's relentless summer heat, organizes have put myriad measures in place in order to keep guests safe.
At Himawari Shokudo 2, Italian food with a Japanese soul
At Himawari Shokudo 2, chef Hozumi Tanaka serves Italian-inspired fare with a focus on Toyama produce, such as this appetizer of lightly blanched "hotaru ika" (firefly squid) served atop mixed wild plants and a crepe prepared from "yamato-imo" yam.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER