Pacific leaders are descending on the stunning Micronesian nation of Palau for the region's most important political gathering.This year's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting could be particularly politically charged and has already got off to a slightly tumultuous start.Palau is famous for its stunning karst landscape — with hundreds of rainforest-covered limestone islands — and for its powerful international advocacy on climate change.It is also one of Taiwan's three remaining Pacific allies and a key link in the US military's second island chain, which means that debates over Taipei's role in the Pacific and China's growing military might will…