Comicomment | Behind the empty seats: Who's stirring up geopolitical tensions?

The 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting concluded in Palau last Friday. At least five heads of government were absent from the annual Pacific Island Forum, Reuters reported, including the prime ministers of Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and the Solomon Islands and the president of Kiribati.

Yet the absences still point to a troubling reality: as geopolitical rivalry increasingly finds its way into the South Pacific, it is becoming harder for the island nations to find common ground.

PIF should not allow geopolitical security narratives to overshadow the urgent challenges facing Pacific island countries. The forum should remain focused on the real interests of Pacific island countries rather than become a stage for bloc politics or competition among major powers

Empty seats cannot make a round table. As climate change poses a real and growing threat to people’s homes, hurricanes intensify and fishing grounds are depleted, some are still consumed by geopolitical maneuvering beneath the surface. If this continues, the conference table will only sink deeper and deeper, until it is ultimately swallowed by the abyss.