Foreign Minister Winston Peters says the Pacific missed an opportunity not to issue a joint statement soon after China launched a nuclear-capable missile into waters near Tuvalu.

It's unclear whether a consensus will be reached at today's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, with Peters labelling it a "delicate issue".

Peters is in Fiji for the meeting along with counterparts from 17 other Pacific countries, in preparation for the leaders' meeting in Palau, in early September.

It's been a month since China test-launched a nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean - a nuclear free zone.

It was met with condemnation from some Pacific leaders, and Christopher Luxon said the New Zealand government made clear to China that the move was unacceptable - but there has not been a unanimous statement from Pacific nations.

Peters said New Zealand had been pushing for one.

"It's a very delicate issue," he said, suggesting some countries would come to the meeting with their minds made up.

"The roadblock is that if you've had a predetermined position, any discussion here and any logic and reasoning will not land," he said.

"We'll see whether logic prevails in this debate, or whether the debate has already been settled by people having a predetermined position from which they will not move."

Peters would not name the countries he believed were holding things back.

He said it was not too late to take a joint position however it should have been done sooner: "the sooner the better."

The countries should not be in a position where they could not reach consensus on the matter, said Peters.

"At this point in time, we've got one third of the world's surface, there's a desperation for serious funds when it comes to resilience building in this part of the world," he said.

"The economic situation is not good, so we need each other more than ever, and we need international recognition as well more than ever."

Peters had a brief discussion with Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong on Friday morning ahead of the meeting, but would not say whether the two countries were on the same page.

He said there would also be discussion about how partner countries work with PIF following the controversial decision to ban them - including heavy hitters like China and the US - from last year's meeting in the Solomon Islands.

Peters has spoken out repeatedly about "outsiders" influencing the Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele to implement the ban, which Manele denied, arguing the block made sense while PIF leaders considered how best to respond to the increasing interest from partners wanting a seat at the regional decision-making table.

"We need their help," Peters said.

"This idea of tiering people and all sorts of this part of the discussion, if it means that you actually lose the chance for buy-in by serious countries, then that'll be a big mistake."