China’s foreign minister will meet with his Pacific counterparts on Monday at a crucial meeting during which China is expected to encourage Pacific countries to sign a comprehensive regional economic and security agreement.
The meeting comes halfway through Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s Pacific tour of the marathon, which visits eight countries in 10 days, a measure that, according to security experts, represents a dramatic “pace increase.” China’s drive for influence in the region.
Wang arrived in the Fiji capital Suva yesterday after visits to the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Samoa and is due to meet with Fiji’s prime minister this morning.
It will then host the virtual meeting of Chinese and Pacific foreign ministers, with foreign ministers from across the region virtually joining. Ministers representing all Pacific countries that recognize China diplomatically are expected to participate in the call.
This is only the second time that the meeting of foreign ministers has been held, after the inaugural meeting last October.
At the meeting, ministers are expected to discuss a proposed security agreement across the region. The agreement, which was leaked last week, covers everything from a free trade zone with the region, to providing humanitarian aid and Covid. It also sets out China’s vision for a much closer relationship with the Pacific, especially on security issues, and China proposes that it be involved in police training, cybersecurity, sensitive marine mapping and access. to natural resources.
The proposed regional agreement was leaked just one month after the signing of a controversial bilateral security agreement signed by the Solomon Islands and China, which caused great alarm in the West and sparked diplomatic visits. high level of Australia, New Zealand and the USA. of which he tried to urge the government of the Solomon Islands not to sign it.
The Solomon Islands was Wang’s first stop on his eight-country tour last week, before heading to Kiribati and meeting with President Taneti Maamau.
A Kiribati official, who was not allowed to speak to the media, said the couple had talked about fishing, education and health, as well as business and tourism opportunities, and that there was no agreement. security between countries.
Samoa, which Wang visited on Saturday, signed a bilateral agreement with China promising “greater cooperation”, the details of which are unclear.
The Samoan government confirmed in a press release on Saturday that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa had met and discussed “climate change, the pandemic and peace and security. “
Local media were invited to witness the signing of an agreement, but no questions were asked.
The Samoa communiqué said that China would continue to provide support for infrastructure development to various Samoan sectors and that there would be a new framework for future projects “to be determined and agreed upon by each other.”
After Fiji, Wang plans to visit Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
In a duel over influence, Australia’s new Foreign Minister Penny Wong was in Fiji on Friday, reaffirming Australia’s commitment to the region and promoting the new government’s most ambitious goals in reducing emissions. Climate change, which is an acute existential threat to the Pacific island nations, has been a point of tension in the Pacific-Australia relationship, which has been seen as a delay in climate action.
Fiji’s prime minister praised Wong after the meeting, saying he had a “wonderful meeting” with Wong after he traveled the country on his first solo visit abroad since he was sworn in.
“Fiji is not anyone’s backyard, we are part of a Pacific family,” Bainimarama later wrote on Twitter. “And our biggest concern is not geopolitics, but climate change.”