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│ The Pacific Islands Forum fizzles as China │

│ flexes its muscles │

│ large - The Economist - │

│ independent/independent [AUS,PLW,FJI] │

│ │

│ The 55th Pacific Islands Forum ran Aug 30 │

│ to Sept 1 in Koror, Palau, with several │

│ heads of state absent. China objected to │

│ Taiwan's presence and warned of │

│ consequences. Corroborated by Reuters and │

│ AP. Australia's regional convening power is │

│ being contested while its alliance │

│ commitments are unchanged, which is why the │

│ score holds and the confidence rises. │

│ │

│ https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/09/03/t │

│ he-pacific-islands-forum-fizzles-as-china-f │

│ lexes-its-muscles │

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