Papua New Guinea Just Closed Taiwan’s Economic Office

PNG's closure of Taiwan's economic office demonstrates China's growing ability to coerce a major Pacific nation into diplomatic realignment, weakening Taiwan's regional footprint and Australia's capacity to maintain a constellation of Taiwan-friendly partners in the Indo-Pacific. This erosion of the Western-aligned diplomatic order in the Pacific directly affects Australia's Pillar 5 (Decoupling) and Pillar 7 (Alliance) resilience, as it shows China can convert economic leverage into political exclusion without military force, a pathway Australia cannot easily counter.