Pacific reunification sealed as Kiribati is welcomed back to the Forum family
Thursday, 23 February 2023
Kiribati has been formally welcomed back to the Pacific Islands Forum family, seven months after President Taneti Maamau withdrew his government’s support of the peak regional diplomatic body.
Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum are gathering in Fiji for their annual retreat on Friday and discussions will include “patching up differences”, among other things.
At a ceremony to welcome the leaders, outgoing forum chair and Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said Pacific unity was at the heart of this special retreat.
“We are leaders, we are also followers. We give and we also receive. But we thrive best when we unite,” Rabuka said.
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On the eve of the Forum leaders’ summit in Suva last July, Maamau announced Kiribati was not happy with the leadership at the regional institution.
He was referring to the appointment of the secretary-general which Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia maintained had been promised to the Micronesian group.
On Wednesday, Maamau was greeted by forum Secretary-General Henry Puna, the man who has been at the centre of the tensions.
It was all smiles between the two men who embraced with a hug.
“The Pacific Way,” Puna tweeted. “This special leaders meeting demonstrates leaders' dedicated commitment to building PIF solidarity and unity.”
Aotearoa and Australia, the two regional powerhouses, did not send their leaders to Fiji.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is being represented by his deputy Carmel Sepuloni, the most senior government leader of Pacific heritage in New Zealand.
“The prime minister had been planning to attend the Forum, however New Zealand needs its leader right now in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle and the devastation it has left behind,” Sepuloni said.
“We have a fantastic relationship and want to make sure at we are good partners to Pacific island nations.
“Clearly, there are some areas that are priority for the Pacific are a priority for us, Pacific resilience and things like climate change so we will continue to work on those,” she said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sent Foreign Minister Penny Wong for her ninth visit to the region since taking office less than nine months ago.
Wong earlier visited Kiribati and met with Maamau to secure strategic ties between the two countries.
Under the agreement, Australia will gift Kiribati a patrol boat – its second in two years – upgrade police facilities and personnel, and help build a wharf in the Pacific nation.
The region has seen strategic jostling between China and the United States for influence – the most recent is Beijing signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, much to the disappointment of Washington and its allies.
Discussions in Fiji will also focus on Japan's plan to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean this year.
Tokyo wants to release more than one million tons of water that was contaminated in the 2011 disaster caused by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake which left .
The Pacific is urging Japan to delay the discharge over safety concerns.
Incoming Forum chair, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, was in Tokyo earlier this month and is expected to report his findings to the leaders' retreat.
The meeting will also mark the formal handover of the chair from Fiji to the Cook Islands.