Geostrategic Daily

South China Morning Post · 20 September 2026

Pacific island states are trapped in Cold War 2.0

A PIF statement registered concern on a recent intercontinental ballistic missile test. China was not named, and Nauru disassociated itself. The US has test-fired at least 15 ballistic missiles into the Pacific since 2021.

Why it matters: This illustrates how Pacific island states are caught in Cold War 2.0 geopolitical competition.

geostrategy military basing · great power rivalry

Record

Source
South China Morning Post (tier 1)
Published
20 September 2026
Link
https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3367734/pacific-island-states-are-trapped-cold-war-20?utm_source=rss_feed
Content depth
partial
Regions
asia-pacific
Subregions
indian-ocean
Actors
United States, China, Australia, New Zealand, Nauru, Kiribati
Edition
2026-09-21

Grounding

Verbatim spans from the source text that support the summary above.

registered concern on the recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test
China was not named, and Nauru disassociated itself
The US has test-fired at least 15 ballistic missiles into the Pacific since 2021