China’s remake of South Pacific (which I discussed here) has run into some problems.
China has suffered its first setback in an escalating tug of war with western powers for dominance in the Pacific after it failed to win support from island countries in the region for a comprehensive partnership centred on security.
At a virtual meeting with Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, on Monday, leaders from eight Pacific Island nations agreed to co-operate in five areas including health, disaster management and agriculture. But Wang said that more discussion was needed on the China-Pacific Island Countries Common Development Vision that Beijing had proposed.
The blow to China came after the US and Australia strongly pushed back against Beijing’s efforts to entice more of the small, mostly impoverished Pacific Island nations into its embrace.
Penny Wong, the Australian foreign secretary, rushed to Fiji on Thursday, just days after taking office, for talks with Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. The US announced on Friday, the eve of the Chinese foreign minister’s arrival in Fiji, that Suva would join the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum, Washington’s plan to counter Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
China’s success in signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands last month, which allows Beijing to deploy both police and military forces to the South Pacific nation, triggered alarm in the US, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, the region’s traditional security partners and main aid donors.
Beijing’s negotiations with Kiribati over a similar deal, reported by the Financial Times last week, and China’s regional proposal fanned that anxiety. . . .
The draft deal mentioned co-operation on Pacific Island nations’ concerns such as climate change and fisheries, but security and political priorities, such as co-ordinating positions in the UN and regional bodies, proved trickier.
Security priorities?
South Pacific nations hold off endorsing Beijing’s plans that would have seen closer cooperation in fighting crime and ‘traditional and non-traditional’ security
Hmmm . . .
The FT again:
“The Pacific needs genuine partners, not superpowers that are super-focused on power,” Bainimarama wrote on Twitter after the session with Wang. . . .
China signalled it would campaign for more influence in the region. “Don’t be too anxious and don’t be too nervous, because the common development and prosperity of China and all the other developing countries would only mean great harmony, greater justice and greater progress of the whole world,” Wang said, according to Reuters.
The Chinese embassy in Fiji said Beijing would lay out its plans for the region in a “position paper” in response to the questions Pacific leaders had raised at the meeting. They had agreed to discuss the draft communique prepared by Beijing “until we have an agreement”, said Qian Bo, China’s ambassador to Fiji.
Anxiety and nervousness seem to me to be an entirely appropriate response.