Pacific leaders issue joint rebuke over China missile test

Koror, Palau – Pacific island nations condemned a Chinese missile test into their midst in a joint statement agreed Thursday, despite pressure from Beijing on Palau, the host of a regional leaders’ meeting. The Pacific Islands Forum summit communique, read by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps at a late-night news conference, calls for at least 24 hours’ notice of any intercontinental ballistic missile testing. The statement was agreed by 17 of 18 forum members, with Nauru dissenting.