Taiwan is back at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' summit at its highest level in seven years, a win for Taipei's shrinking diplomatic footprint and a setback for Beijing's pressure campaign.

• Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung is leading Taiwan's delegation to the summit in Palau, the first foreign-minister-level trip since 2019.
• Last year's host, the Solomon Islands, kept Taiwan out entirely; Palau, one of Taiwan's remaining allies, put it back in.
• China sent a special envoy for Pacific affairs and pressed the forum's secretariat beforehand to bar Taiwan under the "one China" principle.
• Pacific unity is fraying: foreign ministers failed to agree on a statement opposing Chinese missile tests in the region after Nauru and Kiribati blocked it, and Kiribati's president is boycotting the summit.
• Taiwan brought business groups covering energy, tech, food, construction and organic farming, pitching economic ties alongside diplomacy.

Outlook: Expect the summit to test whether Pacific states will confront China's military activity in the region, with Taiwan's participation status a recurring flashpoint.