A Chinese plan for a security agreement with a dozen Pacific Island nations includes a deal on fisheries access and cooperation, according to the latest draft of the document, the Associated Press has reported.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi headed a 20-strong delegation on a weeklong tour of the region in mid-May, including visits to seven of the countries China hopes will endorse its Common Development Vision. The plan involves China offering technology, training, and infrastructure cooperation in exchange for security advice and cultural exchanges to the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea.
The plan comes as China has tightened its ties to many Pacific Island nations, and many of its provincial governments have also pursued deals for fisheries access. The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently published a list of cooperative deals signed with Pacific Island countries by China’s three top fisheries provinces – Fujian, Guangdong, and Shandong – revealing several agreements already in the works. In November 2020, Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Co. signed a memorandum with the Papua New Guinea Ministry of Fisheries and PNG’s Western Province to build a “comprehensive multifunctional fishery industrial park” on PNG’s Daru Island.
Much of Fujian’s interaction with the Pacific Island states began while current Chinese President Xi Jinping was regional governor of the province, the foreign ministry’s document shows. China has engaged the Pacific Islands in recent decades to entice those with diplomatic relations with Taiwan to switch recognition to Beijing, according to the Financial Times.
Chinese state media has targeted criticism in Western media outlets of Chinese moves in the region, denigrating claims by Australia and other countries belonging to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) of Chinese ambitions in the region being harmful to Pacific Island nations.
Yu Lei, the chief research fellow at the Research Center for Pacific Island Countries of Liaocheng University, said China is offering an alternative to Western countries including Australia, which it said coerced Pacific Island nations to copy its legal and political systems while using them as a voting tool in international bodies.
On 26 May, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited Fiji to meet with the country’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, the first of a dozen visits across the region in a six-week campaign ahead of the July 2022 meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Ahead of her visit, Wong said Australia has not adequately addressed Pacific Island nations’ concerns regarding climate change and rising sea levels, and warned of China’s ambitions for the region.
"The triple challenges of climate, COVID, and strategic contest will challenge us in new ways. We understand that the security of any one Pacific family member rests on security for all," she said.
"Australia will be a partner that won't come with strings attached, nor imposing unsustainable financial burdens," Wong said, according to Reuters.
Photo courtesy of Solomon Islands Government
