China missile test statement fails at Pacific talks, NZ says

Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers failed on Friday to agree on a joint statement condemning China's recent missile test in the region, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said after talks in Suva, Fiji.

Peters said two of the forum's 18 member states blocked the statement and did not give reasons beyond their disagreement. He accused them of appeasing “outside partners' wishes, rather than those that belong to the Pacific Islands Forum,” in an apparent reference to China.

Beijing gave only a handful of nations short notice before test-firing a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile last month. Monitors have said the rocket appeared to land in the ocean somewhere between Solomon Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu.

Tuvalu, which has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, had also called for a joint statement. Pasuna Tuaga, Tuvalu's Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Trade, said Tuvalu had not received notice before the test and did not want to be intimidated by any power.

Tuaga said the missile had landed “somewhere very close” to Tuvalu and that the country had asked several powers, including the United States and China, for help finding the dummy warhead.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said before the meeting that a majority of forum members had expressed concern over China's ballistic missile test.

The Suva meeting comes before a full Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting in Palau in September. Diplomats were also expected to discuss which partner countries should be allowed to attend that summit, after Solomon Islands banned all partner nations from last year's leaders' meeting in response to China's demand that Taiwan be excluded.