Diplomatic rivalry between Australia and China showed no signs of easing on Thursday, as Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart paid separate visits to island nations.
Dueling tours continued in the wake of China’s failure in a bold attempt to get 10 nations to sign an agreement covering security, fishing and more.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (right) is holding a joint press conference with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa in Apia, Samoa on Thursday. (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs via AP) (AP)
Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said she wanted to make it clear that while Samoa had signed some bilateral agreements with China, it had not favored the signing of the major multilateral agreement, at least not immediately.
He said Samoa and the other nations had to talk about the problems first.
“Our position was that a regional agreement cannot be reached when the region has not met to discuss it,” he said.
“Calling them to the discussion and having an expectation that there will be a result was something we couldn’t agree on.”
Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been even more forceful, tweeting: “The Pacific needs genuine partners, not superpowers that are super-focused on power.”
In Samoa, Wong announced that Australia would donate a patrol boat to replace a similar one that sank when it ran aground last year.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Papua New Guinea to meet with leaders there at the penultimate stop of a regional tour of eight countries.
Wang hoped to sign an ambitious multilateral agreement with 10 Pacific nations this week that covers everything from security to fishing.
He could not find consensus on this agreement, but has been gaining smaller victories by signing bilateral agreements with many of the countries he has visited.
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Since the news of the proposed mega deal emerged, Wong has made two trips to the Pacific to bolster support for Australia.
Wong told reporters in Samoa that Australia respected the right of sovereign nations to make their own security decisions, but said those decisions “have the potential to affect the nature of the region’s security agreements.”
“Having a collective consideration of these issues is important,” he said.
Wang’s visit to Papua New Guinea comes ahead of a national election next month.
Wong will visit Tonga next, while Wang plans to end his tour with a stop in East Timor.