Penny Wong will fly to Fiji tomorrow on her first solo trip abroad as Foreign Minister.
Key points:
- An Australian official said there was “clear symbolism” in Senator Wong’s decision
- The Albanian government has pledged to increase aid to Pacific countries
- Local journalists say Beijing is pressuring Honiara to restrict media access to press event
Senator Wong will make the visit less than 24 hours after returning to Australia from the meeting of Quad leaders in Tokyo, where she joined newly sworn Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the summit.
His visit to Fiji will also coincide with the start of the Pacific tour by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who will meet tomorrow in Honiara with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
The Australian High Commission in Suva has requested meetings with Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, as well as with the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He is also expected to give a keynote address while in Fiji.
“The visit, my first week as Foreign Minister, demonstrates the importance we attach to our relationship with Fiji and our commitment to the Pacific,” Senator Wong said.
“Australia will listen to our Pacific partners as we work together to meet our shared challenges and achieve our shared goals, such as combating climate change, pandemic recovery, economic development and regional security.”
The federal government also notes that both Senator Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are likely to visit the Pacific more often as strategic competition in the region intensifies.
An Australian official said there was “clear symbolism” in Senator Wong’s decision to visit so soon, and the new government said it saw the Pacific as a “top priority”.
Penny Wong is expected to meet with Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama during the visit. (ABC News: Sean Mantesso)
Pacific analyst Anna Powles of Massey University in New Zealand said the visit, which came “with the heels of the Australian election and the Quad rally in Tokyo”, sent a “strong signal that the Albanian government intends to get back on track with relations with the Pacific. “
“This also gives Wong the opportunity to meet with Secretary-General Puna and the Pacific Islands Forum, as the meeting of leaders to be held in early June has been delayed,” he said.
“Wong will seek to take advantage of the growing relationship between Australia and Fiji.”
Powles said the foreign minister “may also be looking to form a clearer regional response to the security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands, working closely with Prime Minister Bainimarama.”
Tess Newton Cain, of the Pacific Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute, said Senator Wong was “following” her promise to visit the region soon.
“I see this as a high-risk strategy with the potential to offer a great reward,” he told ABC.
“The Foreign Minister spoke earlier this week about how the Albanian government wants to stand side by side with Pacific partners. This is their first opportunity to speak.”
The Albanian government has already promised to increase aid to the Pacific by about half a billion dollars, as well as to establish new migration routes for people from the Pacific island countries.
He also argues that his promises of further cuts in emissions will help strengthen Australia’s relationship with the Pacific.
In a video recorded just before leaving for Tokyo, Senator Wong stressed the change in climate policy under Labor, saying that the government knew that “nothing is more central to the security and well-being of the Pacific than change. climate change “.
“We have listened to the Pacific and will act, shoulder to shoulder with the Pacific as we face the climate crisis,” he said.
Some Pacific Islander leaders have welcomed Labor climate policies, but some influential figures in the region argue that workers still need to make deeper cuts in emissions.
It is believed that Beijing was pressuring Honiara into a media event
Meanwhile, there has been media controversy surrounding the visit of Mr. Wang.
Solomon Islands Media Association President Gina Kekea told the ABC that she believed Honiara was under pressure from Beijing to restrict media access to a press event where Mr. Wang will speak.
Kekea said local media could only ask one question.
“It’s discriminatory. It goes against what press freedom here represents,” he said.
“What’s the point of this event if you’re only allowed to ask one question?
“It’s pretty scary. The Solomon Islands are a democracy and we’re moving towards the way communist countries behave like China with their means.”
Posted 1 hour, 1 hour ago Wed, May 25, 2022 at 4:24 AM, updated 32 m ago, 32 minutes ago Wed, May 25, 2022 at 5:03 AM