Piflm53

Last week's Pacific Islands Forum leaders' summit ended dramatically when China demanded the conference communique be changed] to eliminate a reference to Taiwan. Audio

Beijing's Special Envoy is furious about the mention of Taiwan in the final communique of the meeting - which appears to have been taken down by the Forum Secretariat without any explanation.

Nauru leader David Adeang is pleased that the Pacific Islands Forum is united despite there being differences of opinion on "some issues".

The United States has "listened carefully" to Pacific Island nations in its efforts to boost its diplomatic footprint in the region, the deputy secretary of State, Kurt Campbell, says.

The local people have been up until the early hours of the morning brushing and sweeping the streets and painting fences ahead of the leaders' arrivals.

The Prime Minister says the agreement commits Australia to help Tuvalu with climate adaptation, and he's also had conversation with Fiji PM to develop a similar bilateral agreement.

The 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting is off to a start with pouring rain and an earthquake as the backdrop, with the New Caledonia and the climate crisis as hot button issues.

Kiribati's head of delegation at Tonga leaders' summit says "our constitutional task" is to prioritise the elections process and diplomatic visits will resume once new government is formed.

But for locals, Tonga hosting the summit means it offers a much-needed cash injection to the nation, which is still recovering from the Hunga-Tonga Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. Audio

Tonga is set to host PIFLM53 under the theme 'Transformative Resilient Pasifiki' in August.