The islands of Fiji some 300 of them are splayed across the western Pacific like marbles tossed across a child's playroom.

NPR: Pacific Island Cultures Brace for Climate Change

The powerful chiefs from Fiji's eastern islands, who were well-known backers of the uprising, remain immune.

ECONOMIST: Treason in Fiji: Escaping the noose | The

Chinese soft loans to Tonga, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands and, more controversially, to the military regime in Fiji, have raised American eyebrows.

ECONOMIST: America pivots on the Pacific periphery