Hong Kong, Sept. 8 -- China attempted to throw its weight around at the 55th iteration of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, held in Palau from 31 August to 3 September 2026. Beijing started in a huff after the host country invited Taiwan to attend.

Taiwan is a development partner to the forum, and its Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung was present for this annual gathering. Qian Bo, China's Pacific envoy, spoke to the media at the opening ceremony and threatened "consequences' because of Taiwan's presence.

Indeed, just a few days earlier, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism laughably issued a formal warning telling Chinese travellers to be wary of visiting the tourism-dependent nation of Palau because of the risk of robbery. Th...