Pacific islands tap Taiwan ally Nauru for next top diplomat

The top Pacific islands diplomatic post will pass to Taiwan ally Nauru next year, the 18-member regional bloc agreed Friday, as it resolved to face climate change and superpower rivalry as a united "family".

The Pacific Islands Forum, meeting in Fiji, also said it would hold more talks with Japanese scientists and the International Atomic Energy Agency over Japan's plan to release treated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

Some Pacific islands fear the water release could contaminate fish stocks but Tokyo has said it does not pose a risk, and the meeting agreed that "science and data" should guide political decisions on the issue.

The Cook Islands took over from Fiji as forum chairman, and the meeting agreed that Nauru's former president Baron Waqa would become the bloc's secretary general in 2024.

Nauru has diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China, and Waqa has previously clashed with Chinese diplomats.