The Missile That Split the Pacific

Pacific Nations Confront China Over ICBM Test as Nauru Breaks Ranks Pacific leaders have delivered a rare collective warning over China’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test, demanding greater transparency after the weapon crossed the Pacific region without adequate advance notice. But the attempt to present a united front has exposed a politically important fracture: Nauru refused to support the missile clause, leaving Beijing’s growing influence hanging over one of the Pacific’s most important diplomatic gatherings. The final position agreed at the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau stopped short of directly naming China and used the more measured language of registering “concern”. Even so, the message was significant. Pacific governments are increasingly unwilling to accept major-power military activity over their region as something they are simply expected to tolerate.