Close Menu
    Trending
    Thursday, July 9
    Mental Health

    Palau’s President Warns Of Rising Nuclear Anxiety In The Pacific, After China Missile Test

    stamilhstgr0518@gmail.comBy No Comments14 Mins Read
    Palau's President Warns Of Rising Nuclear Anxiety In The Pacific, After China Missile Test

    Palau’s President Warns Of Rising Nuclear Anxiety In The Pacific, After China Missile Test | Scoop News

    World Video | Defence | Foreign Affairs | Natural Events | Trade | NZ in World News | NZ National News Video | NZ Regional News | Search

    Palau’s President Warns Of Rising Nuclear Anxiety In The Pacific, After China Missile Test

    <img src="https://healthylife7.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/9b877a3b1727adc1b261.jpeg” alt=”Radio New Zealand”>Thursday, 9 July 2026, 5:23 pmArticle: RNZ

    Johnny
    Blades    RNZ Pacific senior journalist


    Palau’s
    President Surangel Whipps Jr says countries of the wider
    region need to work together to reduce geopolitical tensions
    and the risk of nuclear conflict

    This comes after China’s
    test launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile with
    a dummy warhead into the South Pacific on Monday. Beijing
    said the test was “consistent with international law and
    customary international practice and is not directed at any
    specific country or target”

    Whipps spoke to RNZ
    Pacific about his country’s concerns over China’s actions
    and how Palau wants a more collaborative and transparent
    approach to international affairs in the
    Pacific

    (The transcript has been edited for
    brevity and clarity.)

    Johnny Blades: Big
    news this week in the South Pacific with the test missile
    launch by China, a nuclear-capable missile test. What are
    your thoughts about that?

    Surangel
    Whipps Jnr: Well, first of all, Palau was
    unfortunately in war during World War Two, a site of one of
    the bloodiest battles ever. And when the people of Palau
    passed their Constitution, which today is Constitution Day,
    46 years ago, one of the parts of the Constitution was a
    nuclear free constitution, and I think that just goes to our
    ambition to preserve peace and never get into the situation
    that we were in World War Two

    Advertisement – scroll to continue reading

    So when China acts in
    very opaque or secretive launches like this, it raises
    anxiety, fears, and causes great concern for all of us that
    live on these islands that want to live in peace and
    harmony, and that was demonstrated last year in Honiara [at
    the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)], when we all signed the
    Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration

    The missile really
    went right into the heart of the Pacific, crossing over all
    of us in the Pacific. Of course, Palau is very close to
    China, so anything that comes across comes near us. We know
    in 2024, they launched a missile, they didn’t inform us,
    this one is launched – they didn’t inform us, and these
    types of behaviours really go against long standing
    treaties. There’s the Hague Code of Conduct, which 145
    states subscribe to, about voluntary pre-launch
    notifications – they didn’t follow that, so this is where we
    are in very concerning times with these types of
    activities.

    We ask China to act and follow
    international treaties, respect sovereignty. We understand
    every country has a way to defend themselves, but at the
    same time they wouldn’t be allowed to put other countries in
    harm’s way, and that’s why it’s important that we follow law
    that we’ve established and treaties that we’ve
    established

    JB: Is Palau also concerned about
    the missile tests that the US regularly holds in the
    Pacific?

    SWJ: Well, the US
    has a base in the Marshall Islands, they follow protocols
    and inform countries that are in their vicinity about what’s
    going on. So I think we all understand that countries have
    to defend themselves, but the reason why we have these
    protocols is to ensure that we’re all informed and there’s a
    transparent process. What is the purpose of this testing? It
    seems to us that now we’re on a rapid buildup of nuclear
    capability, which the world was working toward reducing. So
    we definitely need to work together to bring tensions down
    and reduce nuclear risk for our ocean.

    JB:
    Were you just saying earlier that China didn’t inform your
    government before its missile test, because I know it did
    inform some of the regional countries, at
    least?

    SWJ:Yes, it did not
    inform us, and also occurred in 2024 where we weren’t
    informed. We also raise concerns then. Based on where
    they’re launching them from in China and ending up in the
    Pacific, they come over our area, and they could easily sway
    and end up on our islands, that’s that’s of course our
    concern

    We feel that it’s important that we’re
    transparent and we’re informed. Interestingly, Chen Bo, the
    special envoy for China, he was in Fiji when we were having
    [Forum Troika meeting]. He did not mention to anybody there
    that they were doing these tests, and this was just a few
    days before the launch

    You would think that a high
    official from the Chinese government, who saw me there and
    met with me, and wanted to talk about issues instead of what
    they were doing, was was quite odd

    JB: Your
    country is in an interesting position being one of the
    countries in the region that recognises Taiwan
    diplomatically, but I note you’ve sort of talked about being
    open to all partners, and with the Pacific Islands Forum
    summit coming up in your country, I think you’ve given the
    nod for China to also join the summit. Is that your
    approach, kind of like open to
    all?

    SWJ:We have to
    understand that, first of all, the Pacific Island Leaders
    Forum that’s being hosted in Palau is a Pacific Island
    leaders forum, so that means it follows what the Pacific
    Island leaders agreed to. We all respect the other
    sovereignty. Yes, I have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
    We don’t have diplomatic relations with China, but this is a
    Pacific Island Forum and under the Pacific Island Forum,
    China is a dialogue partner, Taiwan is a development
    partner, both countries contribute to the Pacific Islands
    Forum. So as partners, as I’ve always said, everyone is
    welcome.

    Now, I’ve also made it very clear that
    there’s there’s meetings for dialogue partners, there’s
    meetings for develop partners. These are separate meetings.
    The only time that Taiwan wasn’t allowed to a Pacific Island
    Forum meeting was in Solomon Island, but that wasn’t just
    Taiwan, it was all all partners were told they weren’t
    allowed to come

    What I consistently said is that in
    Palau, of course, everybody is welcome to participate
    according to all the ways that we participate in all other
    forums. That’s why China, as a dialogue partner, will come
    and participate as a developed partner. We don’t have a
    bilateral relationship, but I guess I’d say through the
    Forum we have a relationship, and that relationship is
    respected and valued, just like all relationships that we
    have with our partner

    The Forum is an opportunity to
    bring partners in and say, ‘How are you here to help promote
    the 2050 strategy? Are you here to help promote peace and
    security?’ I think at the Forum it’s important to bring
    China, and maybe they can share how they are promoting peace
    and security for us all in this blue Pacific, which is for
    us, we feel threatened and concerned and disappointed about
    their recent actions

    JB: Many Pacific leaders
    are making clear that Pacific Islands countries want peace.
    I’m just wondering, with all the geopolitical kind of
    competition, is it unhelpful that Australia, for instance,
    is very busy signing these sort of defence and security
    treaties with various Pacific countries? Does it effectively
    ratchet up the tension when we need it to be going
    down?

    SWJ: I believe that we
    should be working with partners to preserve peace and
    prosperity and freedom. Australia signing declarations with
    partners, like monument partners that share the same values
    that respect rule of law, freedom, and democracy is
    important

    Building alliances to me ensure a free and
    open Indo-Pacific that promotes peace that we all want.
    Palau has, of course, Compact of Free Association with the
    United States. It’s very clear our relationship is fine. And
    the United States has a working relationship with Australia.
    So these all work together to ensure deterrence, because we
    all also believe in that if you want peace, you have to be
    prepared to deter

    JB: Do you think everyone
    needs to work together a bit more in the wider Pacific,
    including China and the US, in the Pacific Islands region.
    Does it need to be more
    collaborative?

    SWJ: I think
    that’s always the goal – to be able to communicate clearly,
    so we know what everybody’s intentions are, operate in a
    transparent manner, and that’s why there’s all these
    treaties to work toward that area that we can trust each
    other and that we can work together to promote
    peace

    Unfortunately, for us in Palau, you would like
    to see China moving in that direction, but for Palau, that
    hasn’t been the case. China continues to disrespect our EEZ
    (exclusive economic zone) again, another research vessel in
    our area, and maybe it was, who knows, maybe it was here to
    travel the metal, that missile that was flying over. But
    this is why dialogue, transparency, builds trust,
    cooperation, and reduces tensions, and that’s I think where
    it needs to start from

    Unfortunately China acts in
    manners that bully, for example, they didn’t spend time
    talking to me about the missile that they’re going to
    launch. They spent time lecturing me, totally disrespecting
    Palau, and telling us how to run the Pacific Island Forum,
    when the Forum has clear rules, the members of all group,
    too, and trying to tell us how we should run the Pacific
    Island Forum. If we don’t do it their way and deny certain
    countries from coming, then therefore, retaliate. I mean,
    what kind of language is that? And so that’s that’s deeply
    concerning to us. Then a few days later, launching missile
    just goes to show that they don’t respect our sovereignty.
    They act in a way to bully us and you are saying things
    like, ‘well, you’re just a country, we’re a big
    country’.

    Obviously, we know we’re a small country,
    but we’re still a sovereign country, and our sovereignty
    should be respected, and also the integrity of the PIF
    should be respected, and it’s unfortunate they try to bully
    and and and do what they do. We all want peace, we want to
    promote peace and trust and cooperation, and that’s the
    goal, and that’s why they’re allowed to come to Palau,
    because about is working together in
    partnership

    JB: Do you think the Pacific
    Islands Forum that’s coming up in your country will be
    dominated by this dynamic, this tension of geopolitics, and
    possibly about dominated by defence
    discussions?

    SWJ:I hope
    not. This conference should be about building resilience in
    the Pacific, working toward the 2050 Strategy. How do we
    have 100% renewable Pacific? How do we manage our ocean
    sustainably, and ask for investment to come into the
    Pacific, to help us develop fisheires and develop tourism,
    and the importance of protection of biodiversity so that we
    can really build a sustainable future, not just for the
    Pacific, but for the planet, because we believe that a
    healthy oceans and [give us a] planet.

    The biggest
    security for us is an issue that should be talked about is
    sea-level rise, storms, the impacts of climate change, not
    these other geopolitical tensions, which, if anything, we
    should work to reduce, not inflame. I hope that by having
    everybody in Palau, we reduce those tensions, not increase
    them

    RNZ

    New Zealand’s public broadcaster, providing comprehensive NZ news and current affairs, specialist audio features and documentaries

    Radio New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. Radio New Zealand News are vital elements in our programming, providing impartial news and information to New Zealanders every day. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) provides listeners with exciting and independent radio programmes in accordance with the Radio New Zealand Charter

    Contact RNZ

     
     
     
    World Headlines

    WORLD

     


    Save The Children: Airstrike On Gaza Tent Marks Fourth Palestinian Child Killed In Six Days By Israeli Forces

    Gaza medics said four people were killed in the airstrike today including a 10 year old child, according to media reports


    New Zealand Defence Force: Kiwi Sailors Benefit From Deployment With Cook Islands Police

    While the Navy personnel brought specialist knowledge and operational experience to their time on Te Kukupa II, they gained an appreciation for the Cook Islands’ culture and the close connection between its people and the maritime environment


    UN Special Procedures – Human Rights: Israel Must Immediately Release Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya – UN Experts

    “Israel has turned the practice of medicine into a crime – and made health and care workers targets of harassment, intimidation, arrests, torture and death. This must stop,” the experts said


    Save The Children: Sudan – More Than 5,500 Children Displaced By Escalating Violence In El Obeid In Past Two Weeks

    The latest displacement in over three years of war comes amid intensified hostilities around the city, with the UN warning that up to 500,000 civilians are at risk of being targeted in large-scale atrocities and could be displaced if the situation escalates


    Peace Action Wellington: No Missile Launches Wanted In The Pacific

    The New Zealand government’s decisions to pull closer to the US, including weapons testing and training in the Pacific, seriously threatens a principled, independent and nuclear-free foreign policy


    Kaya Selby, RNZ: New US Ambassador To New Zealand Says Cook Islands Is A Top Priority

    The new US Ambassador to New Zealand is introducing Donald Trump’s agenda of ‘disruption’ to the Pacific

    workJoin Scoop Pro
     
    Submit News
     
    person_addBecome a Member
     
     
     

    LATEST HEADLINES

    • WORLD
    • Pacific Leaders Welcome Australia-Backed Multi-Million-Dollar Rugby League Deal
      5:20 PM
    • Fiji-Australia Defence Alliance A First Step For Protecting New Zealand
      3:27 PM
      | PILLAR
    • Dissent Is Not Disloyalty: The Right And Duty To Criticize The Government
      3:24 PM
      | The Rut…
    • ‘Periods Don’t Stop For A Cyclone’: Pacific Advocates Say Menstrual Health Is Vi…
      3:12 PM
    • Airstrike On Gaza Tent Marks Fourth Palestinian Child Killed In Six Days By Isra…
      11:19 AM
    • UN Experts Condemn Life Sentence Against Baloch Woman Human Rights Defender In P…
      8:07 AM
    • From Conflict To Climate Disruption: Why Slow Food Will Debate The Future Of Foo…
      8:04 AM

    More RSS
     
     

    • Pacific.Scoop
    • Cafe Pacific
    • PMC

    More RSS News Alerts

    More RSS News Alerts

    More RSS News Alerts
     
     
     
     
    Join Scoop Pro

    Get started today with a free trial

    Click to learn more
     
     
     

    Related Posts

    Leave A Reply