WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – China wants 10 small Pacific nations to adopt a comprehensive agreement covering everything from security to fishing, in which a leader warns it is a “game-changing” offer of Beijing to gain control of the region.
A draft of the agreement reached by The Associated Press shows that China wants to train Pacific police officers, unite in “traditional and non-traditional security” and expand cooperation with law enforcement.
China also wants to jointly develop a marine fisheries plan, which would include the lucrative catch of tuna in the Pacific, increase cooperation in the implementation of the region’s Internet networks, and establish Confucius cultural institutes and classrooms. China also mentions the possibility of establishing a free trade zone with the Pacific nations.
China’s decision comes when Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a delegation of 20 people begin a visit to the region this week.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday expressed concern over China’s intentions, saying Beijing could use the proposed agreements to take advantage of the islands and destabilize the region.
“We are concerned that these denounced agreements could be negotiated in a hasty and non-transparent process,” Price told reporters. He warned that China “has a pattern of offering shady and vague agreements with little transparency or regional consultation in areas related to fisheries, related to resource management, development, development assistance and, more recently, to and all security practices “.
Price added that the agreements, which include sending Chinese security officials to the nations, “could only try to fuel regional international tensions and raise concerns about Beijing’s expansion of its internal security apparatus in the Pacific.”
Wang visits seven of the countries he hopes will support the “vision of common development”: the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
Wang also holds virtual meetings with the other three potential signatories: the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Federated States of Micronesia. He hopes that the countries will approve the pre-written agreement as part of a joint communiqué following a May 30 meeting in Fiji that he is holding with the foreign ministers of each of the 10 countries.
Micronesian President David Panuelo has told leaders in other Pacific nations that his nation will not approve the plan, warning that it would unnecessarily increase geopolitical tensions and threaten regional stability, according to a letter from Panuelo. AP.
Among other concerns, Panuelo said, the agreement opens the door for China to own and control the region’s fisheries and communications infrastructure. He said China could intercept emails and listen to phone calls.
Panuelo said the Common Development Vision is “the proposed deal that has changed the game the most in the Pacific in any of our lives” and said it “threatens to usher in a new era of the Cold War, at its best.” cases, and a World War at worst. “
Panuelo declined to comment on the letter or proposed agreement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that he did not know Panuelo’s letter.
“But I do not agree at all with the argument that cooperation between China and the South Pacific island countries will trigger a new Cold War,” he said.
Like some other Pacific countries, Micronesia is increasingly caught up in the opposing interests of Washington and Beijing.
Micronesia has close ties with the United States through a Free Partnership Pact. But he also has what Panuelo describes in his letter as a “great friendship” with China that he hopes will continue despite his opposition to the deal.
The security aspects of the agreement will be of particular concern to many in the region and beyond, especially after China signed a separate security pact with the Solomon Islands last month.
This pact has raised fears that China may send troops to the island nation or even establish a military base there, not far from Australia. The Solomon Islands and China say there are no plans for a base.
The May 30 meeting will be the second between Wang and Pacific foreign ministers after holding a virtual meeting last October.
Those following China’s role in the Pacific will examine the wording of the draft agreement.
Among its provisions: “China will provide medium- and high-level police training for Pacific island countries.”
The agreement says countries will strengthen “cooperation in the fields of traditional and non-traditional security” and “expand cooperation in law enforcement, jointly fight transnational crime and establish a mechanism for dialogue on ‘law enforcement and police cooperation’.
The agreement would also allow nations to “expand exchanges between governments, legislatures and political parties.”
The draft agreement also stipulates that Pacific countries “compete fiercely” with the principle of a single China, according to which Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy, is considered by Beijing to be part of China. It would also uphold the “non-interference” principle that China often cites as a deterrent for other nations to talk about their human rights record.
The agreement states that China and the Pacific will jointly formulate a marine space plan “to optimize the layout of the marine economy and to develop and use marine resources rationally, to promote the sustainable development of the blue economy.” .
China also promises more investment in the region by mobilizing private capital and encouraging “more competitive and reputable Chinese companies to participate in direct investment in Pacific island countries.”
China also pledged to send Chinese-language consultants, teachers and volunteers to the islands.
The PA has also obtained a draft of a five-year action plan that it intends to build on alongside the vision of common development, which outlines a number of immediate incentives that China offers to the nations of the United States. Pacific.
In the action plan, China says it will fully implement 2,500 government grants by 2025.
“In 2022, China will conduct the first training program for young diplomats in the Pacific island countries, depending on the pandemic situation,” the draft plan said, adding that China will also hold governance seminars. and planning for Pacific nations.
In the draft action plan, China says it will build criminal investigation laboratories as needed by Pacific nations that can be used for fingerprint testing, forensic autopsies and electronic forensics.
China also says it will also spend an additional $ 2 million and send 200 doctors to the islands to help fight COVID-19 and promote health, and pledges to help countries in their efforts to combat climate change.