Australia and New Zealand pushed back at Beijing's warning that Taiwan's presence at the Pacific Islands Forum would bring "consequences" — a diplomatic win for Taiwan and for the island states.

• China's Pacific envoy called Taiwan's foreign minister attending the Palau summit "extremely inappropriate" and said such situations always have consequences, while insisting it was not a threat.
• Australian Prime Minister Albanese said matters in the region are decided by the Pacific Islands Forum itself, not by outside countries.
• New Zealand's foreign minister said the Pacific bloc takes no orders from countries outside the region, and Palau's president told partners they do not get to pick the group's destination.
• Beijing has labelled tourism-dependent Palau unsafe for travel; Albanese brushed that off, calling the country a wonderland.
• Taiwan, China, Singapore, Japan, the UK and the US all attended as non-member partners, with the 18-member forum focused on drug crime, climate change and closer security ties.

Outlook: Expect more Chinese pressure on Palau and other Pacific states that host Taiwan, with the forum's members likely to keep resisting publicly.