Beijing has accused Palau of "hype" over its Pacific missile test, after the host of the regional Pacific Islands Forum on Thursday urged the group to condemn China's launch, on the final day of a summit dominated by a dispute between Beijing and Taiwan.
Surangel Whipps Jr., who is also the president of Palau, said he was hopeful the issue would be mentioned in a joint statement by the 18-nation bloc when the summit ends later on Thursday.
"That's definitely something that we'll be discussing today, and a unified Pacific voice is critical in getting Beijing to respect sovereignty, to respect transparency, and to be a responsible partner," he told a news conference.
"We don't want our backyard, our homes, to be threatened and really disrespected."
The July ballistic missile test by Beijing — its first known launch in the Pacific since September 2024 — came hours after Fiji and Australia signed a major defence treaty, marking Fiji's first ever alliance.
A meeting of Pacific Islands foreign ministers last month failed to agree to a statement condemning the test, despite individual leaders expressing alarm, publicly and privately, about militarisation of the region.
Beijing has said the test was conducted safely.
On Thursday, its foreign ministry reiterated that position and said it had never engaged in military expansion.
"Palau's repeated hype and attempts to manipulate the positions of other Pacific Islands forum member states are malicious and will not succeed," spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing.
"We are willing to work with South Pacific countries to contribute to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region."
CHINA-TAIWAN DISPUTE
This year's meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum has been overshadowed by China's objections to the presence of Taiwan at the summit, saying the island was not qualified to attend.
Summit host Palau is one of three Pacific Island countries with official diplomatic ties to Taiwan.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.
Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have featured prominently at the annual meeting of the forum, which counts Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island nations as members.
Some Pacific leaders have stayed away from the summit, with the prime ministers of Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and the Solomon Islands and the president of Kiribati sending low-ranking ministers instead, raising concerns the absences could undermine the outcome of the meeting.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Tuesday he was "highly suspicious" about whether foreign interference might be behind some of the leaders' absences, without directly accusing Beijing.
China's foreign ministry spokesperson said Peters' comments were unfounded.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing and Farah Master in Hong Kong; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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