Editor's note: Xia Fangbo, a special commentator for CGTN, is a lecturer at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy of the Beijing Foreign Studies University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting is being held in Palau from August 30 to September 4 under the theme "Building Economies: Life. Action. Unity." As a major regional political organization with 18 members, the Pacific Islands Forum has an important role in coordinating regional positions, mobilizing resources, and responding to shared challenges. For a region made up largely of small island states, the Forum's value does not lie in offering external powers another geopolitical arena. It lies in whether it can generate effective action on practical issues such as climate change, ocean protection, food security, public health, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development.

The most pressing concern for Pacific peoples is not which outside actor gains greater "visibility" in the region, but who can help them better withstand sea-level rise, extreme weather, and structural development vulnerabilities. A 2024 World Bank assessment estimated that the physical adaptation costs of addressing up to 0.5 meters of sea-level rise in Kiribati, Tuvalu, and the Marshall Islands would approach $10 billion – roughly the equivalent of 20 years of the three countries' current combined GDP. The estimate does not yet include adaptation costs for health, education, electricity, and water systems. For many Pacific Island countries, climate change is not a distant environmental concern. It is a matter of territorial security, community continuity, and the right to development. Regional multilateral mechanisms should therefore devote their limited political resources to the most urgent issues and make the Forum a public platform for strengthening resilience and improving people's lives.

The practical value of China-Pacific Island countries cooperation begins with respect for the agency of Pacific Island countries. In developing relations with them, China has adhered to the principles of fully respecting their sovereignty and independence, their wishes, their ethnic and cultural traditions, and their efforts to achieve strength through unity. China does not attach political conditions to its assistance, nor does it tie cooperation to exclusive arrangements. This is not merely a diplomatic slogan; it responds directly to the development circumstances of Pacific Island countries. They need external cooperation that brings funding, technology, and market opportunities, but they do not wish to be required to choose sides among major powers or have their development agendas set by outsiders. Treating one another as equals, conducting consultation, and respecting independent choices are essential to preserving regional unity and preventing cooperation from being turned into a tool of geopolitical competition.

More importantly, this approach is being translated into specific project arrangements and capacity-building efforts. Following the Third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting in 2025, China released a list of measures to implement the meeting's consensus. The measures included allocating $2 million for climate-change cooperation; planning to carry out 200 "small and beautiful" livelihood projects during the year; providing 274 scholarships and 500 training opportunities; and sending seven medical teams comprising 56 medical personnel to Pacific Island countries, while continuing free medical programs such as the Brightness Action and Urology Action. Yet their funding, project scale, personnel allocations, and areas of implementation are all clearly specified, demonstrating a shift from broad principles toward more targeted, livelihood-oriented cooperation.

China has also put forward a clearer path for cooperation on climate change, which is of greatest concern to Pacific Island countries. Its 2025 Initiative on Deepening Cooperation with Pacific Island Countries on Combating Climate Change proposes 100 "small and beautiful" climate-resilience projects in local communities over the next three years; the development of low-carbon demonstration zones; and capacity building, policy dialogue, and technical exchanges through the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Change Cooperation Center. It also supports the United Nations Early Warnings for All initiative, including high-frequency meteorological disaster monitoring through China's Fengyun meteorological satellites. Through disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanisms, China will provide disaster monitoring and early warning, post-disaster emergency supplies, humanitarian assistance, and disaster assessment support. These measures address the practical needs of Pacific Island countries in clean energy, low-carbon infrastructure, ocean observation, disaster early warning, and community resilience.

The significance of practical cooperation must ultimately be reflected in changes that local people can experience. In the Federated States of Micronesia, China has undertaken cooperation projects involving roads, bridges, schools, gymnasiums, and pilot farms, while also carrying out livelihood projects in disaster prevention and mitigation, climate change, agriculture, and health. These projects may not always take the form of major landmarks, but they respond directly to local needs in transportation, production, and public services. For Pacific Island countries, meaningful cooperation is not elegant language at press conferences. It means safer roads, more timely warnings, more accessible health services, more resilient communities, and more opportunities for future development. The value of cooperation should ultimately be measured by the benefit Pacific peoples feel.

For precisely this reason, regional multilateral platforms should not be hijacked by political manipulation. During this year's meeting, representatives of the Taiwan authorities were invited to attend meetings and side events associated with the Forum. It should be made clear that Taiwan is not a member of the Pacific Islands Forum or a formal dialogue partner; it takes part in related activities as a "development partner." Development cooperation should serve the livelihoods of Pacific peoples and the regional public good. It should not become a vehicle for the Taiwan authorities to advance separatist positions advocating "Taiwan independence."

The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair. There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. China has made clear that the participation of China's Taiwan region in activities of international organizations must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle, and it has urged the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to handle Taiwan-related issues properly. The Joint Statement of the Third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting in 2025 likewise showed that the participating Pacific Island countries having diplomatic relations with China reaffirmed their commitment to the one-China principle. Regardless of the name under which the Taiwan authorities appear at regional events, this cannot change the fact that the one-China principle is a basic norm governing international relations and a widely recognized consensus of the international community. Nor can it change the historical and legal fact that Taiwan is part of China.

Forum members are, of course, entitled to handle meeting arrangements in accordance with their own rules, and all parties should respect the independent choices of Pacific Island countries. But genuinely respecting Pacific agency does not mean pushing island countries to the forefront of geopolitical competition or political pressure. It means supporting them in determining their own partners and modes of cooperation according to their development priorities. No external partner should turn the forum into a venue for competing for influence or creating bloc confrontation. Still, less allow Taiwan-related questions to crowd out matters that truly affect the future of Pacific Island countries, including climate finance, ocean governance, disaster early warning, public health, and economic recovery.

The Pacific is vast enough to accommodate open, inclusive, and mutually beneficial cooperation among all parties, based on mutual respect. But it should not become a stage for any actor to pursue geopolitical self-interest or provoke political confrontation. China stands ready to continue deepening cooperation with Pacific Island countries in climate adaptation, disaster prevention and mitigation, the blue economy, fisheries governance, health care, education, and training. It will work to ensure that more cooperation resources reach local communities and benefit ordinary people. Returning multilateral platforms to their proper focus on development cooperation, and ensuring that the benefits of cooperation genuinely serve Pacific peoples, is the right direction for protecting the Blue Pacific and promoting lasting peace and stability in the region.

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