SUVA, Fiji ¨C China¡¯s test of a nuclear-capable missile last month has exposed the limits of Pacific leaders¡¯ ambition to make the region an ¡°Ocean of Peace,¡± free from the crossfire of major-power rivalry.
The July launch, China¡¯s first known ballistic-missile test into the Pacific since September 2024, was fired into the Pacific just hours after Fiji and Australia signed a major defense treaty, marking Fiji¡¯s first ever alliance.
More than a month after the test, Pacific Islands ?foreign ministers were unable to agree on a collective statement condemning Beijing¡¯s missile test, despite individual leaders expressing alarm, publicly and privately, about militarization of the ?region.
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