Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is nearing the end of a marathon tour of eight Pacific states. On Saturday, he will visit the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
Although Wang will come out with multiple bilateral economic and development agreements, he will not return to China with the grand prize: a comprehensive security treaty, which would have meant a reconfiguration of the political landscape in the Pacific, which 10 Pacific states refused to sign. in a virtual meeting on Monday.
Pacific leaders deliberated on the Chinese proposal in the way Pacific consensus decision-making; Weighing carefully and sensibly their decision and, to the relief of the traditional partners, they rejected the proposal.
It is clear that China underestimated the collective response of the Pacific to an agreement that sought to secure its signatures with lock, stock and barrel.
Some observers have attributed this to the intervention of the new Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, in Fiji at the tail end of the Wang scale.
The Chinese have blamed “a few people in these countries, under pressure and coercion from the United States and the former colonizer,” which many have interpreted as aimed at the president of the Federated States of Micronesia who warned other leaders. potential erosion of sovereignty and regional instability if they sign the agreement.
But what the rejection of the Pacific leaders’ agreement really showed was an unequivocal sign of not wanting to be used as pawns in a geopolitical contest, and a strong message to other actors to treat them with respect and work on them. the key threat to the region’s security: climate change.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been very forceful on this point, tweeting his gratitude to both Wang and Penny Wong after their visit last week, while urging China and Australia to act more decisively in the face of the climate crisis.
“The geopolitical score means less than anything to anyone whose community falls under the rising sea,” he said.
China has obviously not given up. And the region should expect a second wave of diplomacy from Beijing.
China’s unprecedented economic growth has allowed a dictatorial state to extend its global influence around the world, and the Pacific is an integral part of its expansionist agenda. Economic Exclusion Zones (EEZs) in Pacific Island countries account for approximately 28% of the world’s EEZs, meaning they have rights to a large amount of the world’s marine resources, which is clear from the regional agreement. proposed in which China is very interested.
Trying to force a regional consensus in China, he also ignored the role of the Pacific regional political body, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
Things are currently tense within the forum. Last year, members of Micronesia threatened to leave the key diplomatic body in the region, and China’s attempt to incorporate 10 Pacific countries with the agreement, leaving aside the Pacific countries that recognize Taiwan. , most countries in Micronesia, could have further widened the regional divide.
The Prime Minister of Samoa has said that China’s regional agreement should have been presented at the PIF and not in a sub-meeting, but it is understandable why China tried to circumvent this process: unlike Australia and New Zealand, China is not a member of the PIF, and if the agreement was presented to all PIF countries, including those diplomatically recognizing Taiwan, it was even less likely that the agreement would go away.
But it should come as no surprise if we see China trying to come up with this agreement, or something similar, at the next PIF meeting next month.
Australia should prepare for the next wave of Chinese diplomacy in the Pacific and work to build stronger, meaningful and respectful relations with the Pacific.
Australia needs a more considerate approach to the Pacific. I should let the dust created by Wang’s visit settle down and then build on Penny Wong’s visit identifying opportunities for relationship building in the Pacific consultations. Pacific Islanders can tell their Australian and New Zealand friends what they need.
Australia needs to really learn to listen and listen well. Australia does not need to throw money baskets at the Blue Pacific. I believe that for the people of the Pacific Islands it is the relations that matter and Australia needs to look for areas where its relations with the Pacific can grow and flourish. Australia should recognize the intensification of China’s commitment as an opportunity to rebuild its relations with the Pacific, and a lesson in not taking the Pacific for granted.