Anna Powles Journalist Profile

Articles

China's Pacific push to 'support Taiwan reunification'

Aug 5, 2024 | inkl.com | Mihai Sora |Anna Powles

China is striking security pacts and working to increase influence in the Pacific, experts say. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)China muscling into the Pacific goes beyond trying to establish a strategic foothold in attempting to secure vital support for any future action against Taiwan, experts say. Beijing has courted Pacific island nations to switch allegiances from recognising Taiwan to gain vital allies in the United Nations, where every state has a single vote, Mihai Sora said.
How Strategic Competition Is Shaping Security Cooperation in Solomon Islands

Jul 25, 2024 | nbr.org | Anna Powles

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMAIN ARGUMENTStrategic competition in the Pacific Islands region, including in Solomon Islands, has manifested in multiple ways as external actors engage in increased diplomatic, development, security, and defense activities with Pacific Island partners.
The disposal of Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean – An exploitation of the “Blue Pacific Continent capabilities” or a continuation of the Pacific Ocean's “nuclear sewer legacy”?

Jul 19, 2023 | samoaobserver.ws | Anna Powles |Enid Westerlund

The world watched on March 11, 2011, as the Fukushima Nuclear Accident unfolded. In the wake of this disaster, international communities came together to support the Japanese Government in efforts to mitigate and control the impacts of this nuclear catastrophe.
How do we make Samoa safe again?

Jul 19, 2023 | samoaobserver.ws | Anna Powles |Enid Westerlund

We used to leave our houses and doors unlocked. Now, we make sure the gates, windows and everything else is locked when we leave the house. We now add security cameras in addition to the dogs for extra security. Why? Samoa is not as safe as it used to be. Take the sea wall for example, I used to walk alone from Sogi to Fugalei when I was a kid and everywhere else with only traffic and dogs to worry about. Now, we have to look out for hooligans and robbers, beggars along the way.
Secretary General Henry Puna's address

Jul 18, 2023 | samoaobserver.ws | Stephen Howes |Ema Vueti |Anna Powles |Enid Westerlund

Honourable Bikenibeu Paeniu, Ambassador of Tuvalu to the Republic of China (Taiwan); Acting Director General of the IUCN Regional Office, Ms Maria Goretti Muavesi; Vice President of the Conservation International Pacific Ocean and Islands Programme, Ms Susana Waqainabete-Tuisese; Excellencies; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen. Kia orana and welcome to your Secretariat.
Geopolitical duel in the Pacific: Solomon Islands security at risk as Australia and China compete

Jul 6, 2023 | lowyinstitute.org | Anna Powles

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles landed in Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands, last week for talks on the future of Australia’s defence and policing presence in the country. The day before Marles arrived in Honiara he suggested that the Australian-led Solomon Islands International Assistance Force (SIAF) could remain in Solomon Islands beyond the mission’s expiration date of December this year. This was a miscalculation.
Smooth sailing or choppy waters for Australia, NZ and the US in the Pacific?

May 21, 2023 | aspistrategist.org.au | Anna Powles |Joanne Wallis

Last week’s announcement that US President Joe Biden would not travel to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Islands Forum leaders was met with disappointment. Expectations were high: the White House had labelled the visit ‘historic’—it would have been the first time a sitting US president visited a Pacific island country—and claimed it would further reinforce the ‘critical partnership’ between the US and the Pacific islands.
Fiji snub signals Pacific shift away from China

Apr 27, 2023 | asiatimes.com | Jose Sousa-Santos |Anna Powles

Skip to content The diplomatic spat surrounding China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu’s visit to Suva in April 2023 captured shifting geostrategic developments in Fiji.
When disaster strikes, Australia, New Zealand and the US should partner with, not for, the Pacific

Mar 7, 2023 | aspistrategist.org.au | Joanne Wallis |Anna Powles |Henrietta McNeill

Officials from Australia, New Zealand and the United States are set to meet in Canberra this week for the fourth annual Trilateral Pacific Security Cooperation Dialogue. Their goal is to work out how to partner better and smarter in a region that is increasingly contested geopolitically. For the Pacific, the security challenges are stark. Pacific island countries are on the front lines of climate change and increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters.