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China and New Zealand are close to finalising a free trade agreement. If it goes through, it will be the first free trade agreement China has negotiated with a developed country.

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Small coffee growers in Papua New Guinea have signed a deal to sell their coffee to the first gourmet coffee shops to open in Shanghai, in China. The deal will see the PNG Grower Direct Coffee Company form a joint venture with the Shanghai Uncommon Grounds Coffee company, which will roast the beans and operate a chain of shops.

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The South Pacific has increasingly been one of the key arenas for the global diplomatic contest between Beijing and Taipei.

The destructive impact this competition can have on small island states has caused growing alarm among the region's bigger powers, especially Australia.

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Tonga's pro-democracy movement has decided to take their opposition to a large loan to the country from China direct to the Chinese government. The Kingdom has been told it is to receive a 118 million US dollar loan from China to aid in rebuilding the capital, Nukualofa, which was damaged when last year's pro-democracy demonstrations got out of hand.

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Comments by the premier of Niue that his people should follow the example of the Chinese in their approach to life and work have been criticised as irrelevant to the Pacific by an opposition MP. The island's premier, Young Vivian, has just returned from an official visit to China, saying he's impressed with the way China gets things done.

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Tonga's prime minister says China's agreement to provide millions of dollars in aid won't give Beijing any extra political influence. Dr Fred Sevele recently returned from a trip to China, in which Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed to provide a soft loan to help rebuild Nukualofa, which was badly damaged in a pro-democracy riot last year.

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One of the Pacific's most respected academics and analysts believes Australia and New Zealand have only themselves to blame for the increased interest by China and Taiwan in the region. Emeritus Professor Ron Crocombe was speaking at a Pacific trade and investment forum in Auckland.

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China is probably spying on many island nations in the South Pacific, according to a former CIA adviser. Dr Paul Buchanan who is now Senior Lecturer in Politics at New Zealand's Auckland University says China wants to expand its influence in the region, and intelligence gathering is part of that process.