Pacific ministers to discuss issuing a joint statement on China missile test

Pacific Island foreign ministers are set to decide on Friday whether to issue a joint statement on China's missile launch in July, with New Zealand pushing for a response but acknowledging divisions could prevent agreement, its foreign minister said.



China's test-firing of a missile into the Pacific alarmed regional powers but failed to spur a unified response from Pacific Island governments, underscoring divisions over how to confront growing strategic competition in the region.



Talks at a meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva would test whether members could overcome "predetermined" positions on the issue, New Zealand's Winston Peters told a press conference.



"We'll see whether logic prevails in this debate, or whether the debate has already been settled by people having a predetermined position from which they will not move."



Rick Houenipwela, the foreign minister of the Solomon Islands and chair of the forum, told the meeting that the Pacific's agenda must continue to be "conceived by the Pacific, shaped by the Pacific and only by the Pacific".



He added that officials, who have met for several days this week, have reinforced the growing interlinking of the challenges faced by the region.