RFA and PEN International strongly condemn the recent detention of Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Vu Binh. His arrest under Vietnam’s Article 117 is yet another example of Vietnam’s unjust targeting and brazen intimidation of independent journalists.

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Pleased to share the government's statement of priorities. Of particular interest to our partners in the region is the reaffirmation of our relations with Taiwan and our position on the Falepili Treaty with Australia.

At least two dozen people were killed in tribal violence in Papua New Guinea’s volatile Enga province on the weekend, sending shockwaves through the Pacific island country just a month after it was rocked by riots and looting in the capital
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Tuvalu needs more than US$1 billion for a land reclamation plan to survive higher sea levels, its finance minister told me from COP28 this week benarnews.org/english/news/p…

The mingling of political office and private business interests, the orbiting cast of grifters and the veneer of Chinese government backing resemble a playbook for how to exploit a developing island state rfa.org/english/news/p…

China builds roads, provisions its research ships – in US ally Micronesia benarnews.org/english/news/p…

A minor journalistic thrill of the North Pacific Connector flights between Brisbane and Pohnpei is stepping foot on Nauru without paying the A$8,000 media visa fee

West Papua and Republic of South Maluku welcomed at #MACFEST in Port Vila

Indonesia, Papua Nugini sepakat tingkatkan perdagangan meski ada masalah perbatasan
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Papua Nugini tindak tegas pengibaran Bintang Kejora jelang kunjungan Jokowi
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The metaverse won’t save Tuvalu from higher seas, but land reclamation might
Unveiled in November, the plan to survive higher sea levels doubles the size of Tuvalu’s most populated island and links it to two smaller islets by reclaiming 3.6 sq km rfa.org/english/news/p…

Solomon Islands PM’s press secretariat has released its third statement from the China visit, and in quite the feat, it’s more breathless than the previous two. On Xi’s continuing presidency: “This speaks of the visionary leadership you continue to take on all issues.”

Chinese investors, a Samoan high chief plot a cryptocurrency hub in paradise rfa.org/english/news/p…

Solomon Islands leader feels he’s ‘back home’ amid weeklong visit to China rfa.org/english/news/p…

Tuvalu faces inundation by rising sea levels this century. Last year, the country said it would upload to the metaverse and become the first digital nation. Now that the metaverse has flopped, what will Tuvalu do to survive?
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give way rules, Funafuti

Being uploaded to the metaverse won’t save Tuvalu from higher seas, but land reclamation might -- the fourth smallest nation wants to more than double the size of its most populated island benarnews.org/english/news/p…

180 Rohingya refugees – including babies, pregnant women and children – boarded a boat bound for Indonesia. A week later, they vanished. This is the story of what happened to a forgotten boat of a forgotten people. apnews.com/article/rohing…

The illegal sale of government-issued weapons and ammunition by Indonesian soldiers to separatist rebels in the Papua region surged in 2022, military officials said, warning that service members caught aiding the separatists could face execution.
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President Joe Biden’s plan to expand marine sanctuaries around the United States’ remote Pacific islands has been greeted with dismay in American Samoa, where officials fear a heavy blow to the U.S. territory’s economically crucial tuna industry.
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