Australasia feels the heat
Low-lying islands take the moral high ground
AUSTRALIA and New Zealand have never found it easy to corral Pacific-island leaders into supporting their initiatives. It is getting harder. Pacific politicians are no longer so dependent on aid from their rich neighbours, and they have greater capacity to embarrass them on issues such as climate change, fisheries policy and support for secessionists in West Papua, in eastern Indonesia. These all loomed large at the summit of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) held in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG), from September 7th to 11th.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Australasia feels the heat”
From the September 12th 2015 edition
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