Embassy of the South Pacific

[RiderSyl]

cute!

[Varanius]

cute!

Well, as far as I’m aware, no ones responded to me with this yet, must be doing something right

[RiderSyl]

(Image)

Well, as far as I’m aware, no ones responded to me with this yet, must be doing something right

[Sandaoguo]

Llama Drama
The Latest News in the South Pacific and Beyond
·

February 2021 Cabinet Elections Conclude

By Purple Hyacinth

The February 2021 Cabinet elections have just concluded. There were no surprise upsets and everything went smoothly, but that is not to say there was nothing interesting going on.

In the Prime Minister race, we had Glen-Rhodes/Sandaoguo and Jay Coop/Qvait running. Glen won the race by a large margin, with the first place votes 32-11 in Glen’s favor, and no first place votes for Re-Open Nominations (RON). One possible reason for the win is that Glen has been a big part of the TSP regional politics scene for many years, compared to Jay, who only became involved recently.

For Minister of Culture, North Prarie and Royaltica ran. Prarie won the race by a large margin as well, 33-5 in the first place votes. During the campaigning period, Royaltica was criticized for their inactivity, likely a factor in Prarie’s win.

The Minister of Media race saw three candidates running: incumbent Islas/Islands of Unity, Rabbitz, and Belschaft. Belschaft’s campaign was unique, as he was running to abolish the Ministry, which appeared to be a somewhat unpopular opinion among the Assembly. During the MoM debate hosted by the South Pacific Independent News Network, there were some heated interactions between the candidates. Rabbitz came under fire for his belief in pushing defenderism, which some people interpreted as wanting to publish defender propaganda. Islas has generated activity within the Ministry during their time as MoM, so while the race was close than some of the others, Islas still won by a significant margin, with 23 first place votes out of 44 ballots cast. Belschaft got 10, Rabbitz 8, and RON 3.

Roavin was the only candidate for Minister of Foreign Affairs. He ran on a campaign that was largely focused around is ideal for ambassadors who were more involved. Being a well-established figure in regional politics, it was no surprise that he didn’t face much competition to RON, getting 38 first place votes to RON’s 2.

The Minister of Engagement race was another one-candidate race, with United States of Vietnam running for reelection. People have largely approved of his performance as Minister, and he won all 42 of the first place votes.

For the Minister of Defence race, Witchcraft and Sorcery was also the only candidate. He has been quite active in the South Pacific Special Forces recently, and got 41 first place votes compared to 1 first place vote for RON.

[LollerLand]

Congratulations to the newly elected government!

[Lord Dominator]

GP retirement strikes again

[Cormactopia Prime]

They say I'm bad at retirement, but at least I don't run for Prime Minister or MoFA anywhere.

In all seriousness though, congratulations and this looks like a really solid cabinet, I just had to light-heartedly snark a bit when I saw this.

[TSP Foreign Office]

Statement of Détente Between Balder and The South Pacific

For many years, and particularly around and subsequent to the period of the dissolution of our bilateral Treaty, the relationship between Balder and the South Pacific has been antagonistic and devoid of constructive diplomatic contact. In light of developments within both the intraregional and interregional landscapes, we acknowledge that respectful and open dialogue and interaction between our regions would be mutually beneficial. There is further work to do before we can look at the idea of official relations, as the long history of hostilities between our regions cannot be erased by a single statement, but by signing this statement our respective governments wish to pave the first stone on the road to a future of peaceful coexistence.

We, the undersigned representatives of our governments, recognize a state of detente between our two regions. It is in our strategic interests to ease our strained relations and open official channels of communication. To be clear, this is not a binding treaty of non-aggression or alliance, but it is a significant step in openly declaring that Balder and the South Pacific are not enemies.

Accordingly, the governments of Balder and the South Pacific agree to strive towards--

Each of our governments respecting the sovereignty of the other, and encouraging that respect among our partners and allies.
Each of our governments understanding and acknowledging that with sovereignty comes the right to govern itself in the way of its choosing.
Each of our governments encouraging mutual respect and understanding of the members of our communities.
Each of our governments opening an in-game embassy with the other, and working towards improving communication channels going forward.

Signed,

North East Somerset, King of Balder
Regni Bohemiae, Statsminister

Sandaoguo, Prime Minister of the South Pacific
Roavin, Minister of Foreign Affairs

[Xoriet]

I’m glad to see this move of rapprochement between The South Pacific and Balder. Congratulations to both!

[Libertanny]

Glad to see this, good job and congratz to both sides!

[Guy]

No doubt this will be a fruitful move as a solid first step towards a relationship based on the regions’ common values and aspirations.

[LollerLand]

Congratulations to TSP and Balder!

[Zukchiva]

Little bit late, but congrats to both of your regions!

[Big Bad Badger]

Congratulations to both regions!

[New Enroth]

How does this effect TSP?

[Jar Wattinree]

How does this effect TSP?

Effectively, nothing. How this affects TSP remains to be seen.

[Witchcraft and Sorcery]

*ASSUME THERE IS AN OFFICIAL-LOOKING CABINET GRAPHIC HERE BUT NS FORUM IS NOT PLAYING NICE WITH ME TODAY*

Honorable colleagues, fellow South Pacificans,

I want to begin this address by thanking every single one of you. Whether you just joined the Assembly in the last few weeks or have been a Legislator for longer than history can remember, or anywhere in between, I want to say thanks for your support and the work you put into making the South Pacific such an incredible place. As is tradition, I’m here today to present the inaugural address on behalf of the Cabinet - to share a little about our vision and our plans for the next four months.

This election saw a complete turnover in the Cabinet; not a single minister elected to run for re-election to their old post, and I am the only Cabinet member from last term who remains, albeit with a different portfolio. Despite that, I’m happy to report that the transition has so far been extremely smooth. Most hand-overs are complete and we’re well on the way to forming a coherent and ambitious agenda for the next four months.

Here’s an overview of what the Cabinet is planning:

- Minister of Foreign Affairs Qvait is planning to work closely with the Partnership for Sovereignty on broadening the scope of its work. He’s also announced his intent to reach out to some allies and other friendly regions we maybe haven’t worked as closely with in the past, and explore new opportunities for relationships with those regions based on shared ideals where we have them. At home, his plans are to work on a better recruitment and reporting system, including publishing FA reports for Legislators to better inform themselves in case a discussion arises within the Assembly.
- Minister of Defense HumanSanity is going to work in earnest on a couple of back-burner ideas I had in the last term - namely setting up individual record-keeping documents and better publicizing the SPSF roster. He has also indicated his intent to work with the other Ministries, especially Culture and Engagement, on setting up better and more centralized propaganda and promotional materials for the SPSF.
- Minister of Culture Holy Free wants to get a stable monthly culture calendar back on track, as well as integrating more staff members into planning and hosting events. Tin has rightly pointed out that there is an issue where it seems that only staff members with #announcements permission on Discord can host events - and is looking at ways of solving this. There is also talk between Tin and Jay of Pacific-Con… a :eyes: emoji would go well here.
- Minister of Engagement Lucabaduka’s first priority is fixing the application process to make it more unified - something which I have exciting news from admin on below. The focus, to paraphrase, is on creating a clear and obvious pathway from a link on the gameside to the Minister’s desk. Beyond that, Luca will focus on getting the cards program finally off the ground and running. In the works for a while, it’s time this took flight.
- Minister of Media Moonfungus is working on a standardized schedule for TSJ and other media publication, and will be creating a Discord Upvote Squad for publications and other dispatches of import. They will be overhauling and compacting some of the MoM roles on discord and working on a more unified editorial workspace for publications, as well as highlighting various accomplishments from the other ministries.

This is just an overview of the various ministries, but I hope it gives you an idea of where we’re headed. For my part, I’m working on a couple of projects behind the scenes, but the Assembly will see their results in due course and I will share the following about them:

Priority number one is a Sunshine Act release. Expect to hear more on this in the coming days; I will tackle this as quickly as possible, but there may be a fair amount to sort through as we are extremely behind on releases. We will be up to date and in compliance with the Sunshine Act as soon as humanly possible.

Additionally, I’m happy to share that after a conversation with Roavin, the infrastructure in fact already exists for a unified ministry/SPSF/legislator application process. It could be released even sooner than a lot of us thought - I will brief the Cabinet on the extant infrastructure and any changes they might want to make, but we’ve spent a long time talking about unified applications and it’s time to make that a reality. The system may not be perfect at first, but the infrastructure is easily modifiable and it’s my goal to have a unified application process released at some point during this term. It’s closer than we thought.

As is my duty as Prime Minister, I’m excited to announce that Anjo will be staying on as Director of the Office of World Assembly Legislation. They have done an excellent job with OWL and the Cabinet is delighted to have Anjo remain as Director for another term.

A couple of last matters -

The first public Cabinet meeting of the term will probably be held sometime in the week of July 5th. It’s my goal to have at least one of these per month and to have the first one a couple weeks after inauguration to check in on where we are and field questions from the public about the transition etc.

In the spirit and theme of “making myself available” that defined my candidacy for Prime Minister and has frankly defined my personality in TSP, I will be creating a “Prime Minister’s Office” thread in the Civic and Political Discussion center where Legislators and citizens can post suggestions, ideas, commentary, whatever, and I will do my best to respond to them. I will also be regularly on the RMB and Discord asking for feedback and ideas. With all the outreach and media efforts planned this term, it’s my goal to seek out feedback and suggestions wherever I can get them.

So once again, thank you. Thank you to every single Legislator that voted in the last election, whether for one of our current ministers or for another candidate. Thank you to everyone who submitted a draft of legislation, everyone who voted on a bill, everyone who commented and participated in debate. You are the reason I stay here and you are the reason this is the greatest region in NationStates. I am so excited for all the plans our Cabinet has on the table for this term, and frankly I’m just glad to be along for the ride. This Cabinet is so talented, so driven, and so optimistic that it’s been a pleasure just to work alongside them. This is going to be a fantastic term.

Yours,

Witchcraft and Sorcery
Prime Minister
21 June 2021

[Madjack]

Congratulations to all the winners!

[Qvait]

Happy Pride Month! As part of pride, TSP is holding a weeklong event called TSPride 2021. You are all welcome to join and participate in the festivities.

Forums: https://tspforums.xyz/thread-9496.html | Dispatch: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1562476

[TSP Foreign Office]

PRESS RELEASE

---

 

 

JOINT STATEMENT ON THE BLACK HAWKS ESPIONAGE


During the major update on 25 July, The Black Hawks raided Nasunia, a peaceful trade-focused roleplaying region, using underhanded tactics. Through one of their agents, Miravana, The Black Hawks infiltrated the Ten thousand Islands Treaty Organization (TITO) to gain the trust of its members, ultimately taking advantage of cross-endorsements from TITO to seize the delegacy in Nasunia. Miravana performed this infiltration by utilizing a burner Discord account and puppet nation under the alias of Norman Hollow. Once Miravana exposed their deception through the raid of Nasunia, 10000 Islands swiftly banned them from the region.

The Black Hawks carried out the raid of Nasunia with the support of the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army (EPSA). 10000 Islands and the South Pacific share a respect for The East Pacific's sovereign right to use offensive force according to its laws and customs and consistent with its treaty obligations. In this case however, The East Pacific's actions would constitute a violation of Article III, Section 2(b) of The Treaty of the Waxing Moon between 10000 Islands and The East Pacific. Despite this, it is abundantly clear that The East Pacific was unaware that The Black Hawks used espionage and deception against 10000 Islands in their raid against Nasunia. When The East Pacific was informed about the ploy, the ESPA promptly withdrew from the raid, leaving The Black Hawks-installed delegate in Nasunia with fewer endorsements.

During the minor update on 25 July, the combined efforts of the South Pacific Special Forces (SPSF) and TITO, including our mutual allies the Rejected Realms Army (RRA), our mutual embassy partners in The League, The Order of the Grey Wardens (TGW), and Thaecia, and militaries like The West Pacific Armed Forces (TWPAF) pursuing their sovereign interests to take military action against The Black Hawks, successfully liberated Nasunia. The Coalition of the South Pacific and 10000 Islands commend all of the militaries that participated in the liberation and The East Pacific for withdrawing from the raid.

The Black Hawks carried out these acts with flagrant disregard for the foreign affairs commitments of The East Pacific to 10000 Islands, perhaps even hoping that The Treaty of the Waxing Moon would become nullified by the events of Nasunia. However, The Black Hawks' efforts were insignificant and have backfired. Due to the long history of mutual respect and trust between 10000 Islands and The East Pacific, 10000 Islands was more than willing to approach discussions with The East Pacific in good faith and acknowledge that The East Pacific did not possess foreknowledge of the espionage committed by The Black Hawks. Any violations of Article III, Section 2(b) of The Treaty of the Waxing Moon by The East Pacific were unintentional and will not result in sanctions. As a longstanding ally by treaty to both 10000 Islands and The East Pacific, the South Pacific has concluded the same.

We condemn them for their apparent attempt to interfere in the foreign affairs of sovereign regions by providing incomplete operational information to The East Pacific.

Signed,

Wischland
Delegate of 10000 Islands

Jay Coop (Qvait)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the South Pacific

---

[The Python]

I've probably already stated my thoughts, but this is just another reason to hate TBH. This is after some of their leadership plotted to subvert TSP and TBH got caught trying to vote-stack in OWL.

[Les Claypool]

I've probably already stated my thoughts, but this is just another reason to hate TBH. This is after some of their leadership plotted to subvert TSP and TBH got caught trying to vote-stack in OWL.

Hate? Did they kick your dog or something?

[The Python]

I've probably already stated my thoughts, but this is just another reason to hate TBH. This is after some of their leadership plotted to subvert TSP and TBH got caught trying to vote-stack in OWL.

Hate? Did they kick your dog or something?

Yes! They kick puppies through Varanius!

For "legal" reasons this is a joke.

[A Bloodred Moon]

Signed,

Wischland
Delegate of 10000 Islands

Jay Coop (Qvait)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the South Pacific

The irony.

Out of curiosity, why is this a joint statement between XKI and TSP? I would get it if this was a joint statement between TEP and XKI, since both parties were affected and the statement is entirely about them. A separate statement of support from TSP to their allies would have made sense. But TEP hasn't released a statement at all, and TSP isn't saying they stand by their ally - they're complaining that the Black Hawks did not inform the East of the operation (and not actually condemning the infiltration operation itself, which is the part that does somewhat concern them), but that is with the rather bizarre assumption TBH intended to betray the East's trust. There is nothing in the long statement or any information I have heard of that makes such a scenario likely. The South Pacific, which is mentioned rarely in a statement they apparently partially wrote, really only says this:

As a longstanding ally by treaty to both 10000 Islands and The East Pacific, the South Pacific has concluded the same.

But how or why would that be your call to make? And why would it need such a long statement? Wouldn't this belong to a separate statement of support, letting XKI and TEP figure it out on their own and merely mentioning your support of both parties?

It should be noted, of course, that the ones making a drama out of this whole situation are TSPers, telling TEP they were betrayed or misled while heavily implying TEP should cut ties with TBH over a mistake TSP alleges is intentional. One wonders what their agenda is, eh? To me personally, I cannot help but shake the feeling they've tried blowing things out of proportion to get their allies to do something they want before.

[The Python]

I cannot help but shake the feeling they've tried blowing things out of proportion to get their allies to do something they want before.

More like TSP had the right to be upset over vote stacking in OWL. Clearly just "blowing things out of proportion". You also forgot to mention that some of TBH's leadership participated in subversion plots against TSP.