NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga -- As leaders of Pacific nations were welcomed to their annual meeting in Nuku’alofa, Tonga , on Monday, they were greeted first by torrential rain and then by an earthquake.

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred at a deep enough depth to avoid causing damage. However, the long tremors and ankle-deep water served as a stark reminder of the natural vulnerabilities of many Pacific Islands Forum member countries, who are engaged in an existential struggle for economic and environmental survival.

This event, once barely noticed by the world, now attracts delegations from dozens of countries across the globe. However, this underscores the tension at the heart of the event — the way a fierce battle for geopolitical dominance in the South Pacific among major powers threatens to overshadow local concerns, often to the disappointment of island leaders.

“We don't want them to fight on our doorstep. Take that conflict elsewhere,” Baron Waqa, the forum's secretary-general and a former president of Nauru, told reporters last month.

This year's gathering of Pacific member states draws over 1,500 delegates from more than 40 countries, each hoping to advance their interests in a region where oceans, resources, and strategic power have become increasingly contested.

Established in 1971, the Pacific Islands Forum brings together 18 member states to discuss and coordinate solutions to the challenges facing this remote and diverse region. These nations, some with populations as small as 1,500 people, realize that they command greater global attention when they speak with a united voice. Their leaders — representing Pacific Island nations, some of which are among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels, as well as Australia and New Zealand — have long been at the forefront of advocating for climate action.

For the first several decades of the forum's existence, its annual leadership meetings largely flew under the radar. In recent years, however, that has changed, according to seasoned forum participants. China's efforts to provide aid, engage in diplomacy, and establish security agreements with leaders across the Pacific have spurred a rapid increase in the size and scope of the organization and its gatherings.

This week’s summit features the forum’s largest delegation ever from China and a substantial contingent from the United States, led by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

Both nations are among 21 “dialogue partners” — a group of countries with an interest in the region — participating in the forum. A waiting list for entry exists, but applications are currently closed while the forum re-evaluates its structure. Observers noted on Monday that a tiered system — reflecting partners’ genuine interests and involvement in the Pacific — was a potential outcome.

“We are aware that our region has attracted significant geopolitical interest in recent years,” Mark Brown, the Cook Islands prime minister and outgoing chair of the forum, stated to Islands Business earlier this month. “However, the security concerns perceived by our larger development partners differ from the security concerns we deem paramount.”

While powerful nations might attend the forum seeking influence and attempting to diminish the impact of others, the primary focus of regional leaders remains unwavering: the grave threats posed by climate change and the escalating rise of sea levels.

Reminders of sustainability are prevalent throughout the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa. Metal water bottles distributed as gifts to attendees are labeled “one less plastic bottle,” yet plastic water bottles are provided at every gathering and meal. In many Pacific Island nations, including Tonga, rising sea levels and natural disasters have contaminated rainwater and groundwater, making them unsafe for consumption.

This year, the topic has another advocate — the United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, who in a speech at Monday’s opening ceremony condemned “humanity's treatment of the sea as a sewer” and praised Pacific leaders and young people for declaring a climate emergency and calling for action.

Some leaders sought to bring pressing domestic issues to the forefront: The Tongan prime minister and incoming forum chair, Siaosi Sovaleni, addressed the health and education challenges facing his country on Monday — issues that resonate across the Pacific.

Other topics on the agenda include the lasting impact of nuclear disasters in the region, the rising cost of living and debt burdens, and regional security — including a Pacific police training center planned for construction in Brisbane, Australia, which is viewed as a direct challenge to China's efforts to equip law enforcement agencies in some island nations.

In June, Fiji's prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, described the convergence of challenges — which he also attributed to transnational drug trafficking — as a “polycrisis,” with each issue intensifying the others.

However, the Forum's most pressing issue is likely to be the ongoing unrest in New Caledonia. Deadly violence erupted in the French territory in May stemming from a long-standing independence movement and Paris' efforts to suppress it. A failed attempt by Pacific leaders to visit the capital, Noumea, ahead of the summit has further aggravated tensions.

Long-time observers of the forum say the test for major powers at the event is whether their leaders can engage in the “Pacific way” — a style of humble consensus-building politics that emphasizes relationships. At its core is the concept of the so-called Blue Pacific family, a group of island nations connected by shared culture and heritage, distinct from the wider Indo-Pacific region, whose interests are perceived as more diverse and less interconnected.

Summit attendees who are overly assertive or eager to exert influence are met with raised eyebrows. “There's a specific way Pacific countries do business with each other, and it's something we hope the rest of the world will recognize,” Brown, the Cook Islands leader, told Islands Business.

However, leaders are realistic about the enduring global interest in the Pacific region.

“We need to make a statement that draws global attention. Things have changed,” said New Zealand's foreign minister, Winston Peters, in an interview with The Associated Press last week. “We've been fortunate, but we must work hard to maintain this advantage in the long run.”