The Pacific islands should be a “zone of peace”, Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, has said, adding that he hopes a rivalry between the US and China in the strategic region does not develop into a military conflict. Rabuka was speaking after attending a summit meeting of several Pacific island leaders, where climate change and regional security dominated the agenda. The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party met in Vanuatu on Thursday. The Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders have yet to publicly…
Tag: Pacific islands
Australia warns of economic weakness in Pacific as it outlines development goals – without mentioning China
Australian officials have sounded the alarm about rising debt levels and economic “fragility” among Pacific countries amid increasing competition with China for influence. On Tuesday the Australian government will publish the first update of its international development policy in a decade, with a focus on the Pacific, south-east Asia and south Asia. The policy is not backed by any new foreign aid funding, but the government wants to use “blended finance” tools to encourage the private sector to lend money, especially for climate-related projects in south-east Asia. The government will…
China’s hospital ship visits Tonga amid growing competition in the Pacific
Thousands of people in Tonga have sought medical treatment from a Chinese naval hospital ship docked in the capital, as many praised the free services provided by Beijing which come at a time of increasing competition with the US and its allies for influence in the region. The military-run vessel staffed with doctors and nurses has spent seven days in the Nuku’alofa. Known as the Peace Ark, the ship has sailed to more than 40 countries since it was commissioned in 2008.Its current tour of the region includes Kiribati, Vanuatu,…
Solomon Islands newspaper pledged to promote ‘truth about China’s generosity’ in return for funding
Local media in Solomon Islands have been accused of compromising their independence by entering into agreements with Chinese news organisations and accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment from the Chinese embassy. Since the Solomon Islands government signed a high-profile security agreement with China in March 2022, some newspapers in the Pacific country have received cars, cameras, phones and printing machinery that costs thousands of dollars from the Chinese government, via its local embassy, according to local journalists. Some have raised concern about the gifts and the continued close dialogue…
Antony Blinken calls China’s behaviour in the Pacific ‘problematic’ on visit to Tonga
US secretary of state Antony Blinken warned of China’s “problematic behaviour” during a visit to the Pacific island nation of Tonga, citing Beijing’s militarisation of the South China Sea and what he called economic coercion. China’s growing presence in the region, which saw it sign a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year, has fuelled concern in the US and Australia about Beijing’s ambitions, and prompted increased Western aid and engagement. Blinken said at a press conference that the US had no objection to China’s engagement with the region…
Fiji prime minister cancels China visit after tripping while looking at mobile phone
Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, has said he was forced to cancel an official visit to China after falling and hurting his head. The visit had been announced on Tuesday by the Chinese embassy in Fiji, which said Rabuka would attend the opening of the World University Games in Chengdu alongside the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. Rabuka, elected in December, said he had been forced to cancel the visit after tripping on the stairs while looking at this phone, resulting in an injury to his head. “I’ve just come back…
Chinese intelligence expected to monitor Australia’s Talisman Sabre military exercises
The Australian defence force expects that Chinese intelligence will seek to monitor Talisman Sabre, a military training exercise involving 30,000 personnel from 13 countries including the US and Pacific neighbours. There is precedent for such monitoring attempts. In 2021, the Australian government said it was keeping an eye on the Chinese auxiliary general intelligence vessel Tianwangxing as it approached Australia’s east coast in the run-up to Talisman Sabre. Germany and Indonesia will be among the countries participating for the first time in Talisman Sabre. The two-week exercise begins on Friday…
Solomon Islands signs controversial policing pact with China
China and Solomon Islands have signed a deal on police cooperation as part of an upgrade of their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, four years after the Pacific country switched ties from Taiwan to Beijing. The police cooperation pact was among nine deals signed as the prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, met with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing, underlining the Solmons’ foreign policy shift. Sogavare arrived in China on Sunday for his first visit since the two countries struck a security pact in 2022 to…
New Zealand and Fiji strike defence deal amid rising Pacific tensions
New Zealand and Fiji have signed a defence agreement to strengthen military training and maritime security, that comes amid rising tensions over security in the region. The agreement, signed by New Zealand’s defence minister, Andrew Little, and Fijian minister for home affairs and immigration, Pio Tikoduadua, in Suva on Wednesday, sets a legal framework for military cooperation between the two countries in each other’s territories. The agreement will also address disaster and humanitarian response coordination, and the challenges of climate change. Little said the deal “reflects the value New Zealand…
Paul Keating sent explosive email to Labor cabinet two hours before attack on Aukus, FOI documents reveal
At 10.45am on Wednesday 15 March, an explosive email landed in the inboxes of all of Anthony Albanese’s cabinet ministers. “Dear cabinet colleagues,” wrote Paul Keating, Labor luminary turned chief Aukus critic. “My views will not please the prime minister, the foreign minister nor the defence minister but the country is entitled to a rationale for such a radical and dangerous policy.” The purpose of the email was to forewarn ministers that he would be tipping a bucket on them – and the nuclear-powered submarine plan they had endorsed –…